Teaching  in  the 

Army 


—Lewis 


THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  CHICAGO  PRESS 
CHICAGO,  ILLINOIS 


TEACHING  IN  THE  ARMY 


THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  CHICAGO  PRESS 
CHICAGO,  ILLINOIS 


THE  BAKER  &  TAYLOR  COMPANY 

NEW  YORK 

THE  CAMBRIDGE  UNIVERSITY  PRESS 

LONDON 

THE  MARUZEN-KABUSHIKI-KAISHA 

TOKYO,  OSAKA,    KYOTO,   FVKUOKA,  SENDAI 

THE  MISSION  BOOK  COMPANY 
MMWUI 


Teaching  in  the  Army 


JAMES  C.  LEWIS,  JR. 

Major  of  Field  Artillery,   U.S.A. 

Assistant  Professor  of  Military  Science  and  Tactics 

The  University  of  Chicago 


THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  CHICAGO  PRESS 
CHICAGO,  ILLINOIS 


\ 


COPYRIGHT  1920  BY 
THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  CHICAGO 


All  Rights  Reserved 


Published  June  1920 


Composed  and  Printed  By 

The  University  of  Chicago  Press 

Chicago,  Illinois,  U.S.A. 


PREFACE 

The  achievement  of  the  American  army  in  converting 
raw  recruits  into  soldiers  in  an  incredibly  short  time  was 
one  of  the  most  impressive  facts  in  the  history  of  the  war. 
This  achievement  was  due  to  the  earnestness  with  which 
officers  and  men  attacked  the  problems  of  military  training. 
The  new  men  studied  and  drilled  with  a  devotion  never 
before  seen  in  any  kind  of  a  training  school  and  the  officers 
went  about  their  work  without  sparing  themselves  in  any 
degree. 

In  spite  of  all  the  spirit  and  energy  exhibited,  it  was 
apparent  again  and  again  to  observing  officers  and  also  to 
some  of  the  men  that  valuable  time  was  lost  and  energy 
was  wasted  because  instructors  did  not  know  how  to  get 
their  directions  to  the  men  in  the  best  possible  way  or  how 
to  arrange  the  most  effective  drills.  Officers  realized  when 
the  war  closed  that  they  had  discovered  in  many  matters 
better  ways  of  doing  their  work  as  instructors  than  they 
knew  before,  and  that  these  better  ways  contributed  to 
economy  and  dispatch. 

In.  this  experience  the  army  went  through  exactly  the 
same  line  of  development  as  have  the  schools  of  every 
country  and  every  age.  Schools  find  that  they  do  their 
work  best  after  experience  has  refined  their  methods  of 
teaching. 

The  experience  gained  by  the  army  ought  certainly  to 
be  written  down.  It  is  this  belief  which  has  prompted 
Major  Lewis  to  undertake  the  preparation  of  a  book  on 
methods  of  teaching  in  the  army.  This  book  is  the  result 
of  a  broad  contact  with  army  instruction.  It  is  more  than 
that,  it  is  a  critical  analysis  of  the  experience  gained  in 


435714 


vi  Preface 

army  training  camps.  The  author  came  to  his  task  with 
an  unusual  preparation  to  participate  in  the  giving  of 
instruction  and  to  discover  those  refinements  in  method 
which  would  improve  it.  He  has  grasped  the  significance 
of  a  great  many  concrete  situations  and  has  put  the  kernel 
of  these  situations  in  such  definite,  straightforward  terms 
that  anyone  engaged  in  army  training  can  profit  by  his 
analyses. 

The  book  is  a  most  encouraging  symptom  of  the  move- 
ment to  improve  teaching  technique  in  the  army.  It  ought 
to  get  very  wide  use.  It  is  also  a  striking  example  of  the 
possibility  of  applying  the  modern  methods  of  general  educa- 
tion to  a  special  form  of  instruction. 

CHARLES  HUBBARD  JUDD 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I.  INTRODUCTION i 

1.  The  Need  for  Teaching  Ability i 

2.  Purpose  of  This  Manuscript 3 

II.  REQUIREMENTS  OF  A  GOOD  INSTRUCTOR     ....  5 

1.  Knowledge  of  the  Subject 5 

2.  A  Sympathetic  Attitude 6 

3.  Knowing  How  to  Teach .11 

III.  AROUSING  INTEREST  AND  HOLDING  ATTENTION       .     .     12 

1.  Teaching    Judged    by   Results,    Not    by   Acts    of 
Instructor 12 

2.  How  to  Arouse  Interest .13 

3.  How  to  Hold  Attention 14 

IV.  QUESTIONS  AND  ANSWERS 24 

1.  Questions  by  Instructors 24 

2.  Questions  by  Students .     .     .     28 

3.  Answers 33 

V.  DRILL 37 

1.  Correct  Practice .     37 

2.  Prevent  Errors  by  a  Correct  Copy,  Desirable  to 
Imitate 37 

3.  Concentrated  Attention 38 

4.  Mental  Attitude  of  the  Student  toward  Drill     .      .     39 

5.  Begin  Drill  with  the   Simpler  and   Fundamental 
Elements 41 

6.  Drill  Must  Be  Individual 41 

7.  Habits  Formed  Best  in  Definite  Situations  .      .      .41 

8.  The  Instructor  an  Example  of  Results    .      .      .     .42 


viii  Contents 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

VI.  PLANNING  A  RECITATION 43 

1.  The  Necessity  for  Planning  Recitations  ....  43 

2.  Elements  of  a  Lesson  Plan 43 

3.  The  Aim •    .  44 

4.  Method 44 

5.  Summary  of  Conclusions 45 

6.  Review     .           46 

7.  Assignments 47 

8.  Summary 50 

VII.  MARKING,  GRADING,  OR  RATING 51 

1.  An  Experiment  in  Grading  Done  by  Officers      .      .  51 

2.  A  Comparison  of  Scales  of  Fine  Units  and  of  Coarse 
Units 53 

3.  Objective  Rating  Scales 55 

4.  Variation  of  Marks  of  Students  in  the  Same  Class  .  57 

5.  The  Use  of  Graphs  in  Connection  with  Marks  to 
Show  Progress  of  a  Class 59 

APPENDIXES 

Appendix  A.     Study  Helps .62 

Appendix  B.    List  of  References 63 


CHAPTER  I 
INTRODUCTION 

i.  The  need  for  teaching  ability 

Every  man,  when  he  finishes  his  courses  at  academy, 
college,  technical  school,  or  high  school,  has  in  mind  the 
idea  that  he  is  finished  with  study  and  is  at  last  ready  to 
do  some  kind  of  real  work.  No  matter  where  he  goes, 
however,  whether  into  a  profession,  business,  or  trade,  he 
finds  that  study  has  just  begun  in  a  different  sense.  As 
he  advances  in  his  work,  another  factor  becomes  a  part  of 
his  daily  routine,  and  the  better  he  succeeds  in  meeting 
this  new  demand  the  more  successful  he  finds  himself. 
That  is,  when  he  is  put  in  positions  of  authority  he  finds 
it  necessary  to  impart  to  others,  perhaps  his  subordinates, 
the  knowledge  he  has  acquired,  ways  of  doing  office  work, 
methods  of  salesmanship,  methods  of  thought,  and  what 
not;  in  other  words  he  has  to  become  a  teacher  of  a  kind, 
training  other  people  perhaps  to  work  for  him. 

a)  Army  experience. — We  have  just  had  some  share  in  the 
greatest  war  in  history,  but  has  our  part  in  it  turned  out  just 
as  we  expected  ?  What  was  the  usual  run  of  experience  ? 
We  went  to  school.  After  that  we  organized  schools — non- 
commissioned officers'  schools,  schools  for  special  details, 
schools  for  gun-squad  drill,  dismounted  drill,  equitation, 
all  kinds  of  schools — and  we  were  face  to  face  with  the  old 
proposition  of  teaching  probably  even  more  directly  than 
ever  before.  We  learned  that  most  army  work  is  teaching, 
training,  and  studying.  Even  those  who  had  the  good 
fortune  to  go  to  the  other  side  and  take  part  in  the  actual 
fighting  will  recall  that  most  of  the  time  in  France  was 


Teaching  in  the  Army 


spent  in  either  studying  or  teaching.  Now  many  officers 
and  enlisted  men  are  in  school  again  for  the  purpose  of 
acquiring  more  of  the  necessary  information  which  they 
will  impart  to  others.  The  more  we  see  of  army  work 
the  more  we  are  of  the  opinion  that  while  a  good  teacher 
may  not  make  a  good  officer,  a  good  officer  needs  to  be  a 
good  teacher. 

b)  The  new  army. — President  Eliot,  of  Harvard,  is  quoted 
as  having  said  recently  that  one  of  the  greatest  needs  of  the 
army  is  teachers.  After  Plattsburg,  commanding  organiza- 
tions for  some  time,  studying  and  instructing  at  Fort  Sill, 
and  instructing  in  the  Field  Artillery  Central  Officers 
Training  School  and  the  Field  Artillery  School,  Camp 
Zachary  Taylor,  the  writer  has  been  impressed  with 
the  differences  in  ability  between  different  officers  to 
impart  to  others  the  things  they  know  themselves.  In 
the  training  schools  there  was  a  constant  sifting  and  picking 
of  men  with  this  ability,  and  they  were  hard  to  find.  Why  ? 
One  can  imagine  the  difficulty  that  confronted  the  organ- 
izers of  some  of  the  present  schools  when  it  became  necessary 
to  select  instructors  for  them.  If  any  officer  will  look 
back  over  his  experiences  at  firing  centers  and  elsewhere, 
he  will  remember  the  relatively  few  men  who  really  could 
"put  across"  what  they  should  in  helping  him  to  learn 
rather  than  leave  him  to  learn  everything  for  himself. 
If  this  need  for  instructors  has  been  so  great,  it  will  not 
diminish.  Whether  or  not  we  have  compulsory  military 
training,  the  new  army  is  being  organized  into  schools  for 
different  kinds  of  training  both  for  officers  and  enlisted 
men,  the  army  is  becoming  known  as  the  "University  in 
Khaki,"  Reserve  Officers'  Training  Corps  are  becoming 
firmly  established,  and  it  is  increasingly  evident  that  there 
is  a  growing  demand  for  officers  qualified  and  able  to 
instruct  well. 


Introduction  -v 

2.  Purpose  of  this  manuscript 

This  brief  introduction  is  sufficient  to  explain  in  part 
why  the  War  Plans  Division  of  the  General  Staff  of  the 
army  has  ordered  that  an  integral  part  of  courses  for 
officers  should  be  preparation  to  teach.  To  accomplish 
this  several  factors  are  of  importance.  First,  officers 
must  have  an  absolutely  thorough  knowledge  of  their 
work,  and  this  is  provided  for  by  the  thorough  and  basic 
character  of  the  courses  outlined  for  study;  second,  teach- 
ing done  at  the  training  centers  must  be  of  such  a  nature 
that  it  will  serve  as  a  model,  to  a  great  extent,  for  the 
teaching  done  by  graduates,  and  to  this  end  it  must  be 
constantly  improved;  third,  instructors  and  students  will 
take  a  thorough,  basic,  and  practical  course  in  the  principles 
of  teaching  and  of  training  which  will  aid  them  not  only  in 
their  own  teaching,  but  will  also  tend  to  make  them  compe- 
tent judges  of  good  teaching  so  that  they  will  be  able  to 
pick  out  quickly  the  real  faults  of  a  poor  teacher  and  apply 
the  remedies  most  suitable. 

For  years  men  of  ability  have  been  studying  this  subject 
in  all  parts  of  the  world,  and  it  is  the  purpose  of  this  manu- 
script to  collect  and  to  present  in  condensed  form  many  of 
the  useful  and  concrete  conclusions  which  actual  experience 
has  brought  to  the  attention  of  leading  educators,  in  the 
army  and  out.  Possibly  the  contents,  supplemented  by 
more  exhaustive  publications  suggested  in  the  index,  may 
be  made  the  basis  of  a  course  in  the  principles  of  teaching. 
Such  a  course  given  by  the  author  in  the  Field  Artillery 
School,  Camp  Zachary  Taylor,  included,  first,  a  discussion 
of  the  principles  of  teaching;  second,  practice  in  instructing 
various  classes  by  the  student  officers  in  the  school,  who 
planned  and  held  complete  recitations;  third,  a  more 
detailed  study  of  rating  and  grading  methods;  and  fourth, 
practice  in  planning  complete  courses  of  study  and  time 


in  the  Army 

schedules  for  certain  subjects  taught  in  regular  organiza- 
tions. Similar  courses  to  be  given  during  the  summer  of 
1920  will  suggest  revisions  in  the  text,  and  especially  changes 
in  detailed  illustrations  from  successful  methods  employed 
in  various  branches  of  the  service. 


CHAPTER  II 
REQUIREMENTS  OF  A  GOOD  INSTRUCTOR 

i.  Knowledge  of  the  subject 

The  first  requirement  of  a  good  instructor  is  a  sound 
knowledge  of  his  subject.  Mastery  is  a  goal  set  for  every 
soldier,  and  he  must  learn  to  despise  superficial  knowledge, 
sloppy  execution,  bluffing,  and  "passing  the  buck."  Dur- 
ing the  war  few  were  the  officers  whose  knowledge  of  their 
subjects  was  so  thorough  that  their  answers  to  questions 
could  be  depended  on  to  be  absolutely  correct,  clear,  and 
concise.  Knowing  thoroughly  the  details  of  one's  business 
is  so  widely  accepted  a  requisite  of  success  in  any  kind  of 
work  that  it  may  seem  unworthy  of  further  discussion, 
but  it  is  desirable  here  to  analyze  the  exact  ways  in  which 
each  principle  may  be  applied  to  the  particular  subject 
of  teaching  and  why  it  is  essential. 

a)  Freedom  to  teach. — It  is  absolutely  necessary  that 
the  instructor  be  entirely  familiar  with  the  subject  covered 
in  a  day's  recitation  if  his  class  is  to  do  good  work  during 
that  recitation.  Without  such  knowledge  he  is  not  free 
to  teach;  he  cannot  give  his  attention  to  the  class,  to  its 
attitude  and  method  of  thought,  but  is  constantly  bothered 
with  his  own  shortcomings.  One  of  the  big  tasks  of  teaching 
is  keeping  in  intimate  touch  with  the  ways  in  which  the 
minds  of  students  are  thinking  so  that  the  necessary  stimulus 
and  assistance  can  be  given.  When  one  is  uncertain  of 
his  subject,  the  questions  asked  or  the  difficulties  of  explain- 
ing keep  his  mind  so  occupied  that  he  cannot  concentrate 
on  the  reactions  of  the  class,  and  his  work  is  likely  to  be  a 
failure. 


6  Teaching  in  the  Army 

b)  Understanding  the  difficulties  of  the  student. — Time  and 
again  instructors  iail  to  answer  questions  asked  by  their 
classes  because  they  do  not  understand  the  real  difficulties 
which  lie  at  the  base  of  the  questions,  and  their  explanations 
cannot  satisfy  the  students  who  ask  the  questions  for  this 
very  reason.     For  example,  classes  in  gunnery  often  fail 
in  trying  to  determine  whether  a  target  beyond  a  hill  can 
be  reached  because  they  do  not  realize  that  the  drop  of 
the  projectile  in  traveling  to  the  crest  equals  the  angle  of 
departure  for  the  range  to  the  crest.     A  common  failure 
to  appreciate   difficulties  is  seen  in  teaching  equitation 
where  an  improper  position  of  the  back  is  often  caused 
because  the  ankles  of  the  rider  are  held  stiffly.     A  com- 
plete knowledge  of  the  relation  of  all  parts  of  the  body  in 
riding  is  required  for  immediate  assistance  in  this  case.     A 
thorough  knowledge  is  necessary  so  that  the  instructor 
may  appreciate  the  difficulties  of  his  students. 

c)  Confidence  and  methods  of  approach. — A  third  result 
of  thorough  knowedge  is  confidence,  a  requisite  of  more 
importance  in  the  army  than  in  most  other  professions. 
This  is  confidence  both  in  your  own  knowledge  and  in  your 
ability  to  teach,  because  it  gives  so  many  methods  of 
approach  to  problems.     When  a  student  finds  a  difficulty 
very  great,  you  have  on  hand  illustrations  which  will  clear 
up  the  matter  to  him,  and  soon  he  gains  confidence  in  you 
and  in  himself.     Methods  of  approach  and  illustrations  are 
discussed  in  a  succeeding  chapter.     Here  it  may  be  said 
that  the  more  of  an  authority  an  instructor  is  in  any  subject, 
the  better  he  can  teach  it,  other  things  being  equal.- 

2.  A  sympathetic  attitude 

a)  Meaning. — It  is  not  necessary,  however,  to  be  an 
absolute  authority  on  the  whole  of  a  subject  in  order  to 
teach  it  well,  for  it  is  easy  to  recall  that  many  of  the  best 


Requirements  of  a  Good  Instructor  7 

teachers  in  college  or  elsewhere  were  young  men,  full  of 
enthusiasm,  who  were  not  the  authorities  that  some  of  the 
older  and  less  successful  instructors  were.  In  the  Field 
Artillery  Central  Officers  Training  School  the  writer  was 
called  upon  at  one  time  to  select  the  best  instructors  in  the 
department  of  gunnery,  and  of  the  ten  selected,  three  had 
taken  only  the  course  given  in  that  school  and  had  never 
been  to  Fort  Sill,  or  elsewhere,  to  get  a  more  thorough 
training.  A  reason  for  this  was,  as  we  say,  that  these 
young  men  understood  so  well  the  difficulties  and  the 
mental  attitude  of  their  students.  An  instructor  has  a 
different  point  of  view  toward  his  subject  from  that  of  his 
students  because  he  knows  it  and  tries  to  give  them  like 
knowledge,  while  both  the  subject  and  the  teacher  are 
strange  to  the  class.  A  good  teacher  is  able  to,  and  does, 
look  at  things  through  the  eyes  of  his  class;  if  he  fails  to 
do  this  he  becomes  a  driver  and  not  a  leader,  and  sooner  or 
later  he  is  bound  to  fail.  This  point  of  view  is  what  is 
meant  by  a  sympathetic  attitude.  It  is  a  requisite  of  a 
great  leader  in  any  occupation ;  and  it  is  a  basic  requirement 
of  good  teaching  because  without  it  proper  methods  of 
approaching  new  or  old  problems  are  often  missed  entirely. 
b)  Individual  differences  of  students. — Individuals  in 
classes  vary  greatly  in  their  ability  in  the  same  subject  and 
in  different  subjects.  ABILITY  SCALE 

If  the  class  were  made 
up  of  all  men  or  of  a 
large  number  of  men 
selected  at  random, 
the  variation  in  ability 

,     '  Poor          FAVC     MeSwrcw    Oooi    ExcelV«xA 

in   any  particular 

j  ij    u  FIG.  i. — Normal  distribution  curve, 

study  would  be  ex- 
pressed by  a  graph  much  like  the  accompanying,  called  the 
"  Normal  Distribution  Curve."    This  curve  merely  indicates 


8  Teaching  in  the  Army 

(i)  that  men  vary  in  ability,  the  amount  of  variation 
being  shown  by  the  length  of  the  curve;  (2)  that  there  is 
a  point  in  the  ability  scale,  near  the  average,  the  point  where 
the  middle  man  will  stand  above  and  below  whom  there  is 
an  equal  number  of  men,  about  which  point  the  great 
majority  of  men  are  grouped  in  ability,  as  shown  by  the 
height  of  the  curve  at  and  near  this  point;  (3)  that  the 
number  of  men  of  very  much  greater  or  of  very  much  less 
ability  is  comparatively  small. 

c)  Application. — This    variation    in    ability    must    be 
considered    in    teaching    classes,     (i)    First,    instruction 
should  be  prepared  for  the  man  somewhat  below  the  median 
if  it  is  to  benefit  the  larger  part  of  the  class;    (2)  second, 
very  bright   students   need   opportunity   for  extra   work 
while  very  slow  students  need  extra  help  or  grouping  in 
separate  sections. 

Classes  are  never  so  perfectly  ranged  in  ability  as  in 
this  graph.  They  may  be  a  selected  group  so  that  their 
median  or  middle  ability  is  very  high,  but  in  all  cases  there 
is  a  somewhat  similar  curve  to  be  considered.  Reserve 
Officers  Training  Corps  instructors  and  instructors  of 
officers  will  find  a  wide  range  of  ability.  It  is  sometimes 
hard  for  a  very  bright  instructor  to  have  patience  with  slow 
progress,  sometimes  for  a  slow  teacher  to  have  patience 
with  a  very  quick  student.  In  any  case  an  understanding 
of  such  distribution  adds  to  an  understanding  of  the  class 
and  must  be  kept  in  mind  in  considering  questions  to  be 
asked  and  of  whom  to  ask  them,  the  kind  of  work  probable 
from  different  men,  and  other  details  of  the  work  of  a 
teacher. 

d)  Determining  individual  differences. — How  can  an  in- 
structor obtain  such  a  graph  of  ability  for   his   class? 
The  best  way  is  to  take  the  marks  or  grades  given  mem- 
bers and  form  a  graph  for  the  class.     These  marks  are  his 


Requirements  of  a  Good  Instructor  9 

best  judgment  of  the  pupil  made  from  time  to  time. 
Suppose  the  following  to  be  a  set  of  ratings  for  a  class  of 
eighty-nine  students: 

No.  of  Students  Eating 

4 A  (91-100) 

II B  (81-90) 

40 C  (71-80) 

20 D  (61-70) 

14 E  (60  and  below) 

These  figures  would  be  represented  by  the  following  graph : 
RATING  SCALE 


FIG.  2. — Graph  showing  distribution  of  class  marks,  eighty- 
nine  students. 

Each  block  represents  by  its  height  the  number  receiv- 
ing the  grade  below  it.  Since  there  are  eighty-nine  in 
the  class,  No.  45  from  the  bottom  or  from  the  top,  arranged 
in  order  of  merit,  is  the  middle  man,  represented  by  the 
solid,  light  line.  By  counting  the  numbers  in  the  blocks  it  is 
seen  that  No.  45  falls  in  the  Grade  C  group.  The  middle 
50  per  cent  of  the  class  includes  twenty-two  men  on  each 
side  of  No.  45,  so  according  to  the  grades  the  middle  half 
extends  from  well  down  in  the  Grade  D  group  not  quite  up 
to  the  Grade  B  group,  as  indicated  by  the  dotted  lines. 
Now  the  instructor  looks  up  any  man  in  his  class,  say 


io  Teaching  in  the  Army 

Mr.  X,  and  finds  his  mark  is  B,  so  he  says  X  is  in  the  upper 
fourth  or  quartile  of  the  class.  Mr.  Y  may  be  marked  E, 
so  he  is  in  the  lower  fourth,  or  quartile,  and  needs  special 
aid.  Z  is  marked  D  and  probably  falls  in  the  middle  50 
per  cent.  Instruction  in  class  should  reach  at  least  the 
upper  three-fourths,  so  the  instructor  can  test  its  success 
by  referring  it  to  some  Group  D  or  second  quartile  man,  or 
possibly  to  a  Group  E  or  lower  quartile  man. 

Such  a  study  of  students  can  be  made  in  ten  minutes. 
Sometimes  the  names  of  students  in  each  group  are  written 
in  or  below  the*  grade  for  their  blocks,  and  often  the  instruc- 
tor will  find  a  considerable  interchange  of  names  before  the 
year  is  out.  Indication  of  progress  by  this  method  is  dis- 
cussed in  the  chapter  on  marking,  grading,  or  rating. 
Because  this  method  is  graphic,  it  is  one  of  the  clearest 
and  simplest  ways  of  getting  acquainted  with  the  class, 
and  it  is  becoming  widely  used  by  progressive  instructors. 

e)  Reaction  of  attitude  on  teacher  and  student. — A  sympa- 
thetic attitude  is  difficult  for  the  instructor  to  maintain. 
When  the  Central  Officers  Training  Schools  were  running 
at  full  blast,  it  was  brought  to  the  attention  of  the  directors 
and  battalion  commanders  of  one  of  them  which  contained 
over  13,000  students  that  while  the  students  seemed  to  be 
working  to  the  best  of  their  ability,  large  numbers  of  them 
were  advising  their  friends  at  home  not  to  enter,  though 
claiming  that  they  themselves  were  getting  along  very 
well,  as  they  were.  One  of  the  chief  causes  for  this  feeling 
was  given  as  the  attitude  of  a  number  of  the  instructors, 
who  had  been  instructing  in  army  schools  from  the  beginning 
of  the  war,  with  the  natural  result  that  they  had  become 
drivers  and  not  leaders.  The  students  who  entered  the 
school  were  eager  and  anxious  to  work  as  hard  as  they 
possibly  could,  and  this  attitude  on  the  part  of  the  instruc- 
tors was  out  of  place,  especially  in  the  case  of  such  men. 


Requirements  of  a  Good  Instructor  n 

It  was  partly  for  this  reason  that  some  other  armies  found 
it  advisable  to  retain  officers  as  instructors  for  a  shorter 
length  of  time,  then  putting  them  on  duty  with  troops.  The 
losing  of  a  sympathetic  attitude  is  a  cause  of  the  souring 
of  a  number  of  teachers  and  of  that  rather  strained  look 
which  leads  to  the  remark  occasionally  heard,  "You  can 
tell  a  teacher  as  soon  as  you  see  one."  On  the  other  hand, 
constantly  keeping  in  touch  with  the  viewpoint  of  the 
members  of  his  classes  will  enable  an  instructor  to  do 
away  almost  entirely  with  sarcasm  and  ridicule;  almost, 
because  there  sometimes  arises  the  "smart"  case  which 
may  need  it,  but  even  then  a  young  teacher  can  seldom 
use  them  to  advantage.  In  this  connection  it  is  hardly 
necessary  to  suggest  that  no  soldier  has  respect  for  an 
officer  who  is  not  military,  speaking  directly  what  he 
means  and  forceful  in  word  and  action.  The  ability  to 
look  through  the  eyes  of  others  is  not  unsoldierly,  and  it  can 
be  developed  with  practice  and  experience. 

3;  Knowing  how  to  teach 

The  third  requisite  of  a  good  teacher  is  knowing  how  to 
teach.  Any  officer  who  thinks  back  for  a  moment  over  his 
experiences  during  the  past  three  years  will  recall  mistakes 
he  made  in  training  men,  and  how  much  easier  it  was  to 
get  desired  results  after  a  little  experimentation,  practice, 
and  experience.  One  cause  of  this  was,  of  course,  that  he 
knew  more  definitely  what  results  he  desired,  in  itself 
a  requisite  of  good  teaching.  In  the  succeeding  pages 
are  collected  and  grouped  about  principles  some  of  the 
results  of  such  experience,  and  these  will  doubtless  suggest 
many  similar  cases  emphasizing  the  same  ideas, 


CHAPTER  III 

AROUSING  INTEREST  AND  HOLDING 
ATTENTION 

i.  Teaching  judged  by  results,  not  by  acts  of  instructor 

Some  years  ago  it  fell  to  the  lot  of  the  writer  to  go  with 
four  others  to  survey  the  school  system  of  Mount  Clair, 
New  Jersey,  and  a  particular  part  of  the  report  submitted 
had  to  do  with  teaching  efficiency.  We  visited  practically 
all  classes  in  all  schools,  and  there  we  learned  this,  that 
when  visiting  a  classroom  it  was  of  great  advantage  to 
sit  so  that  we  could  see  the  faces  of  students  as  well  as 
the  teacher.  By  doing  so  we  could  see  the  expression  of 
the  class  and  judge  of  its  interest  and  attention.  The 
point  emphasized  is  that  instructors  are  judged  not  so 
much  by  what  they  say  or  do,  but  by  the  results  they 
get  from  their  classes.  Commanding  officers  judge  their 
subordinates  not  so  much  by  what  they  say  or  do  as  by 
the  way  their  organizations  perform  their  duties.  An 
instructor  is  not  excused  by  dubbing  his  class  a  lot  of 
" blockheads";  it  was  given  him  to  get  results.  A  section 
was  learning  firing  battery  drill;  at  first  glance  the  officer- 
instructor  seemed  poor,  his  voice  rather  low,  even  his 
personal  appearance  not  as  good  as  it  should  have  been; 
and  the  inspector,  a  well-known  officer,  approached  all 
ready  to  criticize.  To  his  surprise  the  men  were  moving 
swiftly  and  silently,  all  settings  were  accurate  and  prompt, 
the  work  was  quickly  checked,  every  man  was  so  hard  at 
work  that  even  the  inspector  was  unseen.  The  outcome  ? 
The  inspector  personally  commended  the  instructor  and 
recommended  him  for  certain  advancement  because  his 
class  was  getting  results. 


Arousing  Interest  and  Holding  Attention         13 

2.  How  to  arouse  interest 

Since  instruction  is  judged  by  the  work  of  the  class, 
it  is  a  common  saying  that  a  good  instructor  is  interesting 
and  stimulating,  and  holds  the  attention  of  his  class.  It 
is  not  difficult  to  arouse  interest  temporarily,  as  at  the 
first  recitation,  but  it  is  important  that  this  interest  be 
aroused.  Merely  a  quick  movement,  a  short  silence,  a 
drawing,  many  little  things  will  do  this.  But  all  of  us  are 
witnesses  to  the  fact  that  interest  may  die  quickly,  and  a 
class  may  get  to  the  condition  where  it  expects  a  certain 
instructor  to  be  uninteresting,  and  consequently  he  will 
find  it  difficult  to  arouse  even  temporary  interest.  We 
are  familiar  with  the  methods  used  by  Billy  Sunday  to 
arouse  and  hold  interest,  but  most  of  these  methods  the 
ordinary  instructor  is  incapable  of  using  and  some  of  them 
he  would  not  use  if  he  could.  The  following  suggestions  are 
useful  in  getting  interest  at  the  beginning  of  the  class. 

a)  Be  prompt  and  prepared. — Attention  is  often  killed 
by  dilly-dallying  at  the  first  of  an  hour.  Time  lost  in 
getting  reports,  in  calling  rolls,  in  getting  seated,  and  in 
other  ways  is  harmful.  Get  this  systematized.  Some 
common  ways  of  doing  this  are  as  follows:  (i)  Have  a 
numbered  seat  assigned  to  each  student  and  appoint  some 
student  to  hand  in  after  class  a  check  of  empty  seats  and 
late  arrivals.  (2)  Assign  numbers  to  students  and  have 
them  count  off.  (3)  Each  section  marcher  reports  orally 
to  the  senior  marcher  and  hands  in  list  of  absentees  with 
causes  of  absence,  and  the  senior  reports  orally  to  the 
instructor.  Some  instructors  will  not  appear  before  their 
classes  until  all  reports  are  in  and  the  class  ready  for  work, 
when  they  step  up  in  front  and  start  the  day's  work  with  a 
swing.  Everybody  knows  that  when  the  instructor  appears 
things  are  going  to  happen.  Being  prepared  to  start, 
starting  on  time,  and  where  you  intend  is  a  good  beginning. 


14  Teaching  in  the  Army 

b)  Be  enthusiastic. — Enthusiasm  always  attracts  atten- 
tion and,  properly  applied,  holds  it.     Enthusiasm  does  not 
mean    a    constant    bubbling   over   of   superlatives  which 
destroy  attention,  but  rather  a  deep  feeling  of  the  value 
of  the  work  in  hand,  developed  by  real  preparation  and 
interested  effort  on  the  part  of  the  instructor.     An  enthusi- 
astic instructor  is  always  able  to  say  more  about  his  subject 
than  the  allotted  time  permits;  his  enthusiasm  is  contagious, 
his  class  will  be  interested,  and  the  end  of  the  period  will 
come  all  too  soon. 

c)  A  definite  purpose  or  a  challenge  draws  interest. — There 
was  one  class  in  law  in  the  Field  Artillery  School,  Camp 
Zachary  Taylor,  in  which  the  instructor  began  the  day's 
work  by  stating  or   having  stated  clearly   the   problem 
for  the  day,  and  enumerating  the  parts  as  they  were  to  be 
taken  up  in  the  recitation.     Everyone  was  immediately 
all  attention.    When  he  was  giving  a  lecture  it  was  notice- 
able that  notebooks  and  pencils  were  in  immediate  demand, 
and  the   mere   statement  of  the   challenging  interesting 
problems  that  were  to  be  brought  up  in  the  class  aroused 
the  attention  of  its  members.     Such  a  clear  understanding 
by  the  class  of  what  the  recitation  is  about  is  accepted  as  a 
requisite  of  good  teaching.     It  can  be  developed  only  as 
the  result  of  forethought  and  planning  on  the  part  of  the 
instructor.    The  value  of  an  interesting  purpose  at  the 
beginning  of  a  period  is  illustrated  by  the  added  interest 
of  a  reader  in  a  chapter  whose  purpose  is  clearly  denned 
in  the  first  paragraph.    A  further  discussion  of  the  use 
of  problems  may  be  found  in  this  chapter  under  "How  to 
Hold  Attention"  and  in  the  discussion  of  assignments. 

3.  How  to  hold  attention 

While  it  is  comparatively  easy  to  arouse  attention,  it 
is  much  more  difficult  to  hold  it.    Consciousness  is  a 


Arousing  Interest  and  Holding  Attention         15 

moving  stream  and  can  never  be  held  fixed  for  any  length 
of  time.  Suppose  you  are  told  to  fix  your  attention  on  a 
spot  on  a  blackboard  for  five  minutes.  You  will  find  it 
impossible  to  do  so.  This  is  the  way  you  might  go  about 
it:  "That  spot  is  white  while  the  blackboard  is  black;  it  is 
pear-shaped;  it  is  about  two  inches  from  the  end  of  the 
board  and  about  six  inches  from  the  top;  it  seems  to  have 
a  yellow  rim  around  it;  etc."  As  long  as  you  continue 
thinking  about  the  different  aspects  of  the  point  you  can 
hold  your  attention  on  it.  It  is  this  changeableness  of 
consciousness  that  makes  it  difficult  for  a  class  to  continue 
at  attention,  because  active  attention  means  hard  work  and 
continuous  application.  It  is  impossible  to  hold  attention 
by  "stunts"  even  if  they  were  desirable,  but  it  is  possible 
to  analyze  to  some  extent  the  causes  of  attentiveness  and 
to  suggest  in  a  simple  way  some  of  the  means  of  holding 
interest. 

a)  Physical  position. — In  the  Field  Artillery  Central 
Officers  Training  School  it  was  found  that  the  formation 
of  classes  and  the  position  in  which  the  members  were 
seated  had  something  to  do  with  their  attitude  of  mind. 
The  classes  were  held  but  of  doors  and  the  section  marchers 
marched  their  sections  in  front  of  the  instructor  and  gave 
the  command,  "Halt,  left  face,  seats."  This  put  the  class 
in  a  regular  and  close  formation  facing  the  instructor.  No 
one  was  allowed  to  lie  down  or  to  sit  in  a  slouching  position, 
and  a  strained  position  was  likewise  avoided  by  providing 
seats  of  a  certain  kind.  Of  course  the  important  question 
of  fresh  air  took  care  of  itself  under  these  circumstances. 

An  instructor  standing  dominates  his  class  by  his  position 
above  them,  and  it  is  necessary  that  while  he  is  conducting 
the  recitation  he  remain  in  a  standing  position.     At  the- 
same  time  he  must  be  careful  that  the  light  is/ not  behind 
him  so  as  to  shine  in  the  eyes  of  the  class.     When  some 


1 6  Teaching  in  the  Army 

student  is  explaining  blackboard  work,  the  instructor  either 
sits  down  or  stands  near  the  back  of  the  class  so  that  the 
domination  is  transferred  to  the  student  reciting  and 
the  recitation  will  be  addressed  to  the  students.  To  hold 
attention  on  the  proper  center  of  interest,  have  that  center 
stand  up,  whether  instructor  or  student. 

b)  Movement. — Movement    always    attracts    attention 
and  is  a  legitimate  way  of  holding  it.     One  grows  tired 
of  looking  at  a  fixed  object.     Some  time  ago  a  group  went 
to  watch  one  of  the  most  celebrated  kindergarten  teachers 
in  the  city  of  New  York,  having  in  mind  the  difficulty 
of  holding  the  attention  of  a  number  of  small  children. 
After  the  children  had  been  working  for  a  little  while  they 
began  to  grow  restless.     Then  the  teacher  stood  up,  walked 
slowly  across  the  room  to  the  blackboard  and  began  draw- 
ing something.     As  soon  as  she  began  to  move,  every  child 
in  the  room  fixed  his  attention  on  her  and  kept  watching 
her  until  she  had  finished.     If  the  spot  on  the  blackboard, 
mentioned  above,  should  begin  to  move  and  make  figure 
eights  and  spell  words,  one  would  have  little  difficulty  in 
watching  it  for  some  time.     When  work  is  not  in  the  form 
of  lectures,  movement  by  the  students  is  most  valuable. 
They  should  go  to  the  board,  illustrate  what  they  are 
describing,  or  show  what  they  mean,  with  the  result  that 
they  pay  more  attention  to  each  other.     Movements  to 
hold  attention  are  best  if  they  serve  some  purpose,  such 
as  illustrating  the  aids  in  riding,  drawing  a  figure  in  gunnery, 
showing  the  parts  being  described  in  materiel,  or  acting 
out  any  maneuver  which  is  being  discussed. 

c)  Variations. — Variations    in    tone    of    voice    and    in 
rapidity   aid  in   holding   attention.     Speak   slowly   when 
saying  something  important,  but  when  giving  an  illus- 
tration or  saying  something  less  important,  speak  more 
rapidly. 


Arousing  Interest  and  Holding  Attention         17 

Variations  in  point  of  view  or  of  attack  are  extremely 
important.  One  day  an  instructor  in  equitation  had  been 
discussing  in  a  lecture  the  various  aids  in  jumping,  showing 
how  the  horse  must  be  made  to  gather  his  haunches  under 
him  before  taking  the  jump.  He  considered  the  subject 
of  so  much  importance  that  he  spent  some  time  on  it,  and 
the  class  began  to  grow  restless.  Suddenly  he  stopped, 
looked  over  the  heads  of  the  class,  and  said,  "I  remember 
a  horse  over  in  Manila — ,"  and  went  on  to  tell  his  story  of 
this  horse  which  was  a  wonderful  jumper;  and  the  point  of 
the  whole  story  was  that  the  horse  gathered  his  haunches 
so  well  before  jumping.  As  soon  as  he  started  this  story, 
approaching  his  subject  from  a  new  point  of  view,  the 
whole  class  became  attentive  again.  Illustrations  nearly 
always  furnish  a  new  approach  to  a  subject;  their  use 
requires  some  discretion,  however,  lest  the  class  carry 
away  a  number  of  stories  and  miss  the  point  they  are  to 
emphasize. 

d)  Using  simplest  methods  of  approach. — The  method 
of  approach  to  a  problem  or  to  new  material  should  be 
simple.  To  select  the  method  of  teaching  most  easily 
understood  and  remembered  requires  a  very  thorough 
knowledge  of  the  difficulties  of  the  subject  and  of  the 
student.  Semaphore  can  be  learned  easily  by  the  group 
method,  but  the  method  grew  from  a  careful  study  of  the 
relationships  of  the  subject.  The  "knee  sprung"  gait 
of  some  recruits  which  makes  them  bob  up  and  down  out  of 
time  with  the  remainder  of  the  company  can  usually 
be  cured  by  a  little  practice  at  the  goose  step.  In  artillery, 
deflection  may  be  computed  in  many  ways,  but  the  simplest 
method  for  the  student  to  grasp  is  the  combination  parallel 
method  in  which  the  offsets  are  computed  as  a  whole  and 
simply  set  off  away  from  the  guns,  no  matter  whether  left 
or  right.  Other  methods  can  be  built  on  this  one.  A 


1 8  Teaching  in  the  Army 

good  course  of  study  should  suggest  the  best  ways  of 
meeting  its  main  problems,  and  a  successful  teacher  is 
always  looking  for  the  way  most  readily  comprehended  and 
most  easily  remembered. 

e)  Visual  instruction. — In  many  instances  the  simplest 
method  of  instructing  is  showing  how  a  thing  is  done,  espe- 
cially having  students  show  each  other.  Thus  it  is  custom- 
ary to  show  the  proper  application  of  the  aids  in  riding, 
or  the  proper  salute  in  dismounted  drill,  or  the  dismounting 
of  a  gun  in  ordnance,  after  which  the  student  tries  it  for 
himself  and  then  studies  the  theory.  It  is  not  enough  to 
show  how  to  do  a  thing,  but  the  class  must  try  it  for  itself 
to  really  learn  the  difficulties,  as  is  shown  in  the  case  of  the 
three  illustrations  above.  Moreover,  it  is  only  when  the 
class  applies  its  knowledge  in  practice  that  the  instructor 
can  judge  of  the  success  of  his  approach. 

Too  much  emphasis  cannot  be  laid  on  visual  teaching. 
A  large  part  of  learning  is  through  the  eyes  and  a  corre- 
spondingly large  part  of  instruction  must  be  through  the 
same  channels.  In  many  classes  the  instructor  who  fails  to 
use  the  blackboard  is  inexcusable.  In  studying  the  theory 
of  motors,  put  a  running  outline  of  your  conclusions  on  the 
blackboard;  in  conduct  of  fire,  put  angles  and  hills,  and 
even  guns,  on  the  board;  in  topography  show  on  the  board 
the  symbols,  co-ordinates,  ways  of  shading,  etc.  Seldom 
is  this  done  enough  or  well  enough.  Everyone  uses  terrain 
boards,  miniature  ranges,  and  service  ranges  to  teach 
advanced  conduct  of  fire;  but  adjustable  angles  made  of 
two  sticks  held  by  a  wing  nut  are  almost  as  useful  in  the 
early  stages  of  computation,  and  field  gunnery  becomes  a 
different  subject  with  prepared  appliances  showing  site, 
movable  trajectory,  or  actual  points  of  impact.  "Seeing 
is  believing"  applies  to  teaching  as  to  other  phases  of  life. 
(See  further  discussion  of  visual  instruction  under  "Drill.") 


Arousing  Interest  and  Holding  Attention        19 

/)  Grouping  work  about  interesting  problems. — A  chal- 
lenging problem  is  the  basis  of  nearly  all  good  individual 
application.  The  inventor  who  spends  his  nights  and  days 
working  on  some  new  idea,  hardly  stopping  for  meals,  does 
so  because  he  has  in  front  of  him  some  problem  which  he 
feels  is  worth  working  on.  If  the  instructor  bases  the 
work  of  his  class  on  problems  which  both  he  and  the  class 
feel  to  be  worth  while,  he  can  always  feel  sure  that  the 
class  is  working  with  him.  Every  day's  recitation  must 
contain  such  problems  requiring  thought  and  attention, 
and  these  problems  should  be  clear  to  the  class,  to  insure 
which  they  are  often  stated  definitely  before  being  taken 
up  for  study. 

Some  illustrations  of  problems  assigned  for  study  may 
be  of  interest,  (i)  One  class  in  geography  was  studying 
Brazil  and  the  problem  was,  "Why  has  the  trade  between 
Brazil  and  the  United  States  increased  (so  many)  per  cent 
during  the  past  four  years?"  involving  a  study  of  the 
resources  and  products  of  each  country.  (2)  A  class  in 
reconnaissance  had  occupied  a  new  position  and  selected 
observation  and  reference  points,  so  they  were  required 
to  bring  in  battle  maps  in  preparation  for  opening  fire  on 
various  targets.  Their  sector  had  been  laid  out  on  a  minia- 
ture range  and  the  maps  they  prepared  were  used  immedi- 
ately in  lateral  observation  in  the  course  in  conduct  of 
fire.  (3)  A  class  in  tactics  was  in  two  sections  commanding 
opposing  forces  in  a  campaign.  Having  fought  fairly 
evenly  during  the  recitation  period,  they  were  left  with 
the  problem  of  obtaining  the  advantage  on  the  next  day. 
(4)  A  class  in  materiel  learned  that  in  the  next  period  they 
must  adjust  their  quadrants  and  fill  recoil  cylinders  with  oil, 
for  which  tasks  they  must  be  prepared. 

These  illustrations  are  simply  a  suggestion  of  how  an 
instructor  may  have  a  class  report  to  him  in  an  attentive 


2O  Teaching  in  the  Army 

frame  of  mind  at  the  beginning  of  a  recitation.  To  do  this, 
he  must  have  the  students  report  to  him  with  problems  in 
their  minds  which  are  to  be  solved  during  the  recitation 
period,  if  possible.  The  most  successful  teachers  dismiss 
their  classes  with  such  problems,  and  the  nature  of  the 
problems  must  be  such  as  to  arouse  interest  and  cause  study, 
a  thing  they  can  be  depended  upon  to  do  when  they  involve 
practical  application  to  a  real  task  of  some  kind.  Army 
work  lends  itself  peculiarly  to  such  tasks  because  most  of 
it  is  of  a  very  practical  nature,  and  nearly  all  of  it  is  studied 
for  actual  use.  Even  drill  of  various  kinds,  such  as  platoon 
or  company  drill,  becomes  deadly  and  useless  in  the  mind 
of  the  student  unless  it  can  contain  such  problems  calling 
for  perfection  of  detail,  and  an  instructor  is  not  justified  in 
simply  executing  "Squads  Right"  and  " Squads  Left" 
indefinitely  as  mere  maneuvers. 

It  will  not  do  to  take  for  granted  that  the  work  being 
done  supplies  its  own  problems,  but  the  instructor  must 
be  sure  that  the  class  knows  a  definite,  valuable  purpose  in 
each  day's  recitation.  Problems  to  be  used  in  class  work 
and  in  study  are  often  put  in  the  form  of  questions,  and 
questions  of  this  nature  are  not  easy  to  answer.  They 
are  often  asked  by  the  students  themselves.  Such  ques- 
tions are  discussed  more  fuUy  under  the  subjects  of 
"  Quest  ions"  and  of  "Assignments." 

g)  Competition  or  emulation. — A  spirit  of  competition 
injected  into  any  study  will  hold  attention.  This  spirit 
is  used  by  practically  all  organizations,  but  in  addition  to 
having  men  compete  against  each  other  or  against  other 
organizations,  it  often  proves  to  have  even  better  results 
to  have  them  compete  against  their  own  records.  Only 
certain  phases  of  this  subject  nee,d  discussion  here. 

Competition  between  individuals  depends  in  part  on 
their  knowing  the  results  of  their  work,  and  since  results 


Arousing  Interest  and  Holding  Attention        21 

are  so  often  expressed  by  grades  or  marks,  competition  is 
increased  if  students  know  their  marks. 

A  graphic  representation  of  the  standings  of  individuals 
or  of  units,  such  as  those  suggested  in  chapter  ii  and  chapter 
viii,  shows  most  clearly  relative  efficiency,  and  this  method 
is  growing  in  use  in  the  army  as  well  as  in  schools  and  col- 
leges. There  was  one  division  during  the  war  in  which 
platoon  chiefs  rated  their  men  monthly,  showing  the  men 
excellent,  good,  fair,  etc.,  in  each  subject;  captains  col- 
lected the  results,  majors  summarized  them  for  battalions, 
colonels  for  regiments,  and  brigade  headquarters  for 
brigades.  Then  the  division  commander  had  comparative 
graphs  made  and  placed  on  his  bulletin  board.  When 
brigade  commanders  reported  to  division  headquarters 
they  sometimes  waxed  warm  over  the  comparison,  though 
each  knew  the  record  fairly  accurate  and  prepared  by  his 
own  officers;  and  when  the  regimental  commanders  were 
assembled  they  were  set  to  work  in  no  uncertain  terms  to 
pass  their  competitors  in  subjects  showing  defeat. 

Competition  against  others  should  be  supplemented 
by  competition  against  one's  own  record  or  against  the 
squad  or  class  record.  In  some  school  subjects  there  have 
been  developed  certain  standard  tests  which  are  used  in 
hundreds  of  schools  as  the  basis  for  graphs  for  each  student, 
showing  his  progress  from  month  to  month.  These  are 
intensely  interesting  and  are  practically  always  encour- 
aging, since  work  on  a  subject  brings  improvement.  Some 
suggestions  along  this  line  are  found  under  the  subject  of 
"  Grading."  This  branch  of  competition  is  worthy  of 
much  greater  use  in  the  army  and  is  now  employed  in  some 
army  schools  and  in  some  units  of  the  R.O.T.C. 

K)  Allowing  students  to  use  their  brains. — It  is  the 
besetting  sin  of  some  instructors  to  overlook  the  fact  that 
students  want  to  use  their  own  brains.  A  number  of 


22  Teaching  in  the  Army 

student  officers  at  Camp  Taylor  held  recitations  as  a  part  of 
their  course  in  principles  of  teaching,  and  it  was  very 
noticeable  that  many  of  them  were  so  anxious  to  get  exactly 
correct  answers  from  their  classes  that  they  interrupted  the 
students  reciting  and  suggested  to  them  the  correct  answers 
to  questions.  It  would  have  been  far  better  to  have  made 
the  student  rely  on  himself  and  to  have  waited  for  him  to 
give  his  answer  in  the  best  way  he  could.  This  fault  is 
almost  universal.  Classes  are  not  for  teachers,  but  for 
students.  Some  instructors  make  their  classes,  especially 
their  lectures,  almost  unbearable  by  going  into  all  details, 
so  that  they  do  all  the  thinking  for  their  students.  In 
order  to  get  the  best  work  from  a  class,  note  the  big  diffi- 
culties in  the  way  of  a  thorough  understanding  of  the 
subject,  if  necessary  present  the  difficulty  in  the  form  of  a 
challenging  problem,  and  put  it  up  to  the  class  to  solve 
the  difficulty  in  its  own  discussion.  Never  be  afraid 
to  let  a  class  work  as  hard  as  it  wants  to  on  such  a 
task,  and  often  when  it  is  unable  to  finish  it  in  one  day, 
leave  the  problem  over  until  next  time.  When  the  class 
learns  with  the  instructor's  aid  that  it  can  work  and  work 
well,  that  individual  ideas  are  expected  and  appreciated 
by  teacher  and  students,  it  will  enjoy  the  satisfaction  of 
successful  work  and  its  members  will  become  thoughtful, 
independent  students.  When  most  questions  are  referred 
to  the  teacher  and  answered  by  him,  these  results  cannot  be 
expected. 

i)  Personal  attitude  of  the  instructor. — The  foregoing 
discussion  emphasizes  the  statement  that  an  instructor 
always  tries  to  keep  in  close  touch  with  his  class.  If  he  is 
delivering  a  lecture,  it  is  often  difficult  to  know  whether 
he  has  the  attention  of  a  large  section.  In  this  case  the 
individual  idea  is  a  good  one.  Select  some  member  of  the 
group  and  talk  directly  to  him;  watch  the  effect  on  him; 


Arousing  Interest  and  Holding  Attention        23 

if  a  funny  illustration  is  used  see  if  he  laughs.  If  the 
lecture  is  " taking"  on  him,  pick  out  a  different  student  in 
a  different  part  of  the  room  and  try  it  out  on  him.  By 
keeping  in  touch  with  individuals  one  gets  a  good  idea  of 
the  thought  of  the  whole  class.  In  recitations  the  same 
rule  applies.  The  work  of  the  class  is  the  paramount 
consideration.  Members  are  seated  to  aid  their  work; 
illustrations  are  selected  in  view  of  their  effect;  methods 
of  approach  depend  on  the  mental  status  of  the  students; 
problems  of  interest  are  developed  and  competition  is 
fostered  to  hold  interest;  and  the  whole  learning  process  can 
be  complete  only  if  students  grow  to  think  independently 
and  to  the  point,  sometimes  guided  by  the  instructor  and 
sometimes  using  him  as  a  reference,  until  they  reach  the 
point  where  they  can  stand  on  their  own  feet,  and  lead 
others  about  them  in  practical  or  theoretical  production. 


CHAPTER  IV 
QUESTIONS  AND  ANSWERS 

The  question-and-answer  method  is  the  usual  form  for 
holding  a  recitation.  In  olden  times  the  students  asked 
questions  of  the  instructor,  whose  part  it  was  to  answer 
them;  nowadays  the  opposite  custom  often  prevails.  A 
combination  of  the  two  methods  is  generally  aimed  at  by 
a  good  instructor,  but  even  this  is  not  enough.  It  is  just 
as  important  to  have  students  ask  questions  of  each  other 
as  it  is  to  have  them  ask  questions  of  the  instructor.  The 
two  natural  heads  under  which  questions  fall  are  those 
asked  by  the  instructor  and  those  asked  by  the  students. 
The  former  have  three  purposes,  the  first  and  primary 
being  to  stimulate  thought,  the  second  to  test  for  knowledge, 
and  the  third  to  emphasize  facts  already  known  to  the  class. 

i.  Questions  by  instructors 

a)  Mechanical  requirements  of  good  questions. — There 
are  several  so-called  mechanical  requirements  of  questions, 
(i)  They  must  be  asked  in  a  clear,  loud  tone  of  voice,  with 
distinct  enunciation,  so  that  every  member  of  the  class 
can  hear  and  understand  them.  While  this  requirement 
is  obvious,  it  is  surprising  to  note  the  large  number  of 
instructors  who  fail  in  this  very  point,  so  that  many  mem- 
bers of  their  classes  often  do  not  know  what  is  being  dis- 
cussed. 

(2)  Questions  should  be  asked  before  designating  an 
individual  to  answer  them,  insuring  the  attention  of  the 
whole  class  and  relieving  any  particular  individual  of  the 
strain  which  might  otherwise  result. 

24 


Questions  and  Answers  25 

(3)  Avoid  calling  on  students  in  a  regular  order.     Have 
you  ever  seen  an  instructor  who  has  an  alphabetical  list 
of  his  class  and  who  calls  upon  thqm  in  alphabetical  order  ? 
If  one's  name  begins  with  A,  he  can  rest  in  peace  after  the 
first  part  of  the  alphabet  has  been  covered  and  know  that 
he  will  have  nothing  to  say  for  some  days  to  come.     Other 
instructors  have  the  habit  of  calling  on  students  in  the 
order  in  which  they  are  seated,  with  the  same  bad  result, 
and  it  would  be  possible  for  a  man  with  an  alert  mind  and  a 
lazy  temperament  to  move  about  the  class  in  such  a  way 
that  he  would  be  seldom  called  on. 

(4)  Sometimes  the  instructor  forms  the  habit  of  calling 
upon  bright  students  to  the  exclusion  of  others.     One  day 
the  writer  visited  a  class  in  conduct  of  fire  in  which  problems 
were  being  fired  on  a  terrain  board.     A  question  came  up 
and  the  instructor  called  on  a  student  to  his  left,  who 
answered  very  well.     In  a  few  minutes  a  second  question 
arose,  the  same  student  was  called  on  and  he  answered 
even  better.     When  a  third  question  was  referred  to  the 
same  man  I  interrupted  and  asked  that  another  be  called 
on.     The  second  man  answered,  when  to  my  surprise  the 
instructor  asked  the  one  who  had  been  reciting  so  fre- 
quently,  if   he   thought    the   answer   correct.     Evidently 
this  officer  had  formed  the  habit  of  calling  on  one  or  two 
bright  members  of  his  class  to  do  most  of  the  reciting, 
hoping  that  their  answers  would  "soak  in"  on  the  rest  of 
the  class.     A  man  will  usually  learn  more  when  called 
upon  to  express  his  own  ideas  than  when  simply  listening 
to  the  ideas  of  others.     In  this  connection  it  might  be 
mentioned  that  an  instructor  sometimes  knows  the  names 
of  only  a  few  members  of  his  section,  and  if  he  is  not  careful 
he  will  find  that  these  members  are  doing  most  of  the  reciting. 

(5)  Questions  should  not  be  repeated  unless  they  are  not 
understood  by  .the  class,  and  they  should  be  understood. 


26  Teaching  in  the  Army 

Repeating  has  two  bad  results:  it  detracts  from  the  atten- 
tion paid  the  first  question,  and  in  case  of  a  difficult 
question  requiring  thought,  it  is  often  asked  the  second 
time  in  a  different  form  from  the  first  so  as  to  cause  con- 
fusion to  a  thoughtful  student. 

(6)  Questions  must  be  clear  and  definite,  so  far  as 
possible  having  only  one  meaning. 

(7)  If  questions  are  framed  in  a  novel  form  it  is  found 
that  they  stimulate  thought,  while  questions  of  some  old 
stereotyped  form  tend  to  have  the  opposite  effect. 

b)  Content  requirements  of  good  questions. — (i)  Ques- 
tions with  predetermined  answers.  Often  an  instructor 
asks  a  question  to  which  he  has  a  definite  answer  fixed  in 
his  mind,  which  answer  he  tries  to  persuade  some  member 
of  the  class  to  give  him  in  his  own  exact  words.  This 
leads  the  class  to  guess  at  what  is  in  the  mind  of  their 
teacher  and  will  result  in  the  destruction  of  individual 
thought  and  finally  in  a  loss  of  interest  in  any  question 
such  an  instructor  may  ask. 

If  the  discussion  by  the  class  contains  a  good  answer 
which  the  instructor  finds  it  necessary  to  express  in  some 
simple  terms,  he  should  of  course  do  so  in  many  cases;  but 
at  the  same  time  he  must  recognize  the  value  of  good  answers 
and  constantly  prevent  the  tendency  of  the  class  to  try 
to  guess  at  what  he  wants  them  to  say.  Except  in  the 
case  of  definitions,  it  is  usually  best  not  even  to  try  to 
force  the  class  to  answer  questions  in  some  previously 
conceived  form. 

(2)  Difficulty  proportioned  to  ability  of  class.  One 
officer  studying  principles  of  teaching  was  called  on  to 
teach  a  class  in  mathematics  on  the  theory  of  exponents. 
His  first  question  was,  "  What  is  the  law  of  positive  integral 
exponents?"  The  eighth  man  called  on  succeeded  in 
giving  some  kind  of  an  answer  to  the  question.  A  second 


Questions  and  Answers  27 

officer  in  the  same  course  taught  the  same  lesson  to  a  differ- 
ent section.  His  first  question  was  something  like  this, 
"If  you  multiply  a  letter  by  itself,  how  do  you  find  the 
exponent  of  the  result?"  The  three  other  parts  of  the 
law  of  exponents  were  taken  up  in  the  same  way,  and 
different  members  of  the  class  succeeded  in  both  answering 
the  questions  and  illustrating  them,  while  another  student 
combined  the  answers  into  the  complete  law.  The  first 
question  was  too  hard;  the  second  questions  called  for  the 
same  information,  required  thought,  especially  in  the 
illustrations,  obtained  the  desired  results,  took  less  time, 
and  so  were  much  better  fitted  to  the  class. 

On  the  other  hand  it  is  possible  to  ask  questions  which 
are  so  easy  as  to  require  no  thought.  Whenever  an  instruc- 
tor asks  many  questions  in  rapid  succession,  receiving 
many  answers  such  as  "Yes"  and  "No,"  it  is  fairly  certain 
that  the  questions  are  poor  and  should  never  be  asked. 
If  such  questions  could  be  combined  into  one  question 
requiring  some  thought  and  discussion,  the  result  might  be 
worth  while.  If  the  instructor  is  asking  fact  questions, 
for  example  calling  for  definitions  or  asking  for  the  names 
of  the  parts  of  a  gun,  the  questions  are  bound  to  be  easy 
and  should  require  very  little  time  for  an  answer.  Except 
in  this  case  such  a  question  is  better  omitted. 

(3)  Sufficient  scope.  It  can  be  said,  then,  that  if  a 
question  is  to  stimulate  thought  it  must  be  of  sufficient 
scope  to  require  thought,  and  in  this  case  the  instructor 
may  expect  a  short  time  to  elapse  before  receiving  an 
answer.  Often  when  such  a  question  is  asked  it  is  followed 
by  a  period  of  complete  silence  on  the  part  of  the  class 
while  they  are  thinking  of  the  possible  answer  they  may 
give.  It  usually  requires  considerable  thought  and  prepara- 
tion on  the  part  of  the  instructor  to  prepare  such  questions. 
Before  going  to  the  classroom  he  should  write  down  four 


28  Teaching  in  the  Army 

or  five  pivotal  questions  to  be  used  in  the  recitation,  about 
which  the  whole  thought  of  the  day's  assignment  hinges. 
Absence  of  such  questions  indicates  lack  of  preparation. 
When  the  instructor  starts  doing  this,  it  seems  to  him  that  he 
is  preparing  a  sort  of  examination  on  the  lesson. 

For  example,  a  class  in  topography  was  near  the  first  of 
the  course.  The  following  questions  covered  the  day's 
recitation: 

1.  Distinguish   between    the    different    types    of    area 
sketches  and  reconnaissance  sketches.    This  provided  for 
review. 

2.  What  are  the  three  respects  in  which  two  points  on  a 
map  are  related  to  each  other?     Distance,  direction,  ele- 
vation— illustrate. 

3.  What  means  are  in  common  use  for  measuring  dis- 
tance, direction,  and  elevation  ?    Illustrate  from  map. 

4.  What  is  placed  in  the  title  of  a  sketch  ? 

5.  Where  are  the  title  and  the  scales  usually  placed  on 
a  sketch  ? 

By  means  of  such  an  organization  of  questions  the  class 
can  get  the  idea  that  most  of  their  work,  especially  of  their 
study,  can  be  organized  and  grouped  about  the  big  ideas  or 
main  topics  of  the  lesson,  and  they  will  be  well  along  their 
way  toward  efficient  study  and  excellent  individual  thought. 

c).  A  test  for  the  quality  of  questions. — One  of  the  best 
tests  of  questions  which  are  asked  by  an  instructor  is  this, 
Do  they  lead  to  questions  on  the  part  of  the  class  ?  Pro- 
fessor Strayer,  of  Columbia  University,  says,  "  Questions 
by  an  instructor  which  do  not  lead  to  questioning  by  stu- 
dents are  unsatisfactory."  A  further  discussion  of  this 
requirement  is  carried  on  under  the  topic  of  questions  by 
students. 

2.  Questions  by  students 

a)  Teaching  judged  by  questions  asked  by  students. — In 
the  discussion  of  questions  asked  by  students,  we  must 


Questions  and  Answers  29 

consider  what  kinds  of  questions  should  be  asked,  why 
they  should  be  asked,  and  to  what  extent  the  instructor  is 
responsible  for  obtaining  them.  It  is  stated  above  that 
questions  by  the  instructor  which  do  not  lead  to  questions 
by  his  class  are  unsatisfactory.  This  emphasizes  in  a  new 
way  the  idea  which  is  basic  in  obtaining  an  attentive  class, 
namely,  that  the  center  of  interest  in  teaching  is  in  the 
class  and  not  in  the  teacher,  and  that  the  object  of  instruc- 
tion is  to  have  a  class  of  successful  workers  rather  than  a 
working  teacher.  The  questions  asked  by  a  class  are  one 
of  the  very  best  indexes  of  the  work  of  the  class. 

The  instructor  needs  to  have  his  students  ask  questions 
to  help  him  judge  the  progress  of  his  class.  Many  a  time  he 
will  be  asked  a  question  which  he  thinks  has  already  been 
answered  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  class,  only  to  find  that  a 
large  number  of  his  students  have  never  really  grasped  the 
point.  For  example,  in  a  class  in  motors  the  other  day, 
after  a  complete  discussion  of  the  operation  of  valves  for 
the  inlet  of  gas  and  the  outlet  of  the  exploded  mixture,  with 
lantern  slides  to  illustrate  the  complete  movement  and 
a  sectionalized  engine  for  practical  demonstration,  one 
student  asked,  "Sir,  of  course  I  understand  the  action  of 
these  valves,  but  I  would  like  to  know  just  when  it  is  that 
both  the  inlet  and  the  exhaust  valves  are  open  at  the  same 
time."  At  times,  also,  students  will  ask  questions  which 
will  remind  the  instructor  of  some  idea  which  he  has  entirely 
forgotten  to  bring  up  in  his  class  work,  although  it  may  be 
of  considerable  importance.  When  the  class  is  asking 
thoughtful  questions  the  instructor  knows  that  he  has  a 
thoughtful  class,  otherwise  he  may  be  fairly  certain  that  the 
reverse  is  true.  Just  as  a  small  child  who  is  learning  is 
interested  in  things  and  is  constantly  asking  questions, 
so  an  interested  class  will  be  full  of  questions  which  they 
either  want  to  answer  for  themselves  or  need  someone  else 
to  answer  for  them. 


30  Teaching  in  the  Army 

b)  Questions  must  be  heard. — It  is  necessary  to  empha- 
size the  importance  of  having  all  questions  asked  by  students 
heard  by  the  whole  class.     Too  often  in  every  school  does 
a  member  of  a  class  who  sits  near  the  instructor  ask  a 
question  in  a  low  tone  of  voice  so  that  many  of  the  section 
cannot  hear  what  he  says.     The  result  is  that  other  mem- 
bers of  the  class  are  not  interested  in  the  ensuing  discussion 
and  tend  to  lose  interest  in  the  general  idea  of  asking  ques- 
tions.    If  the  class  is  to  work  together,  they  must  develop 
the  habit  of  expecting,  even  demanding,  to  hear  everything 
that  is  said  because  nothing  is  going  to  be  said  in  the  class 
which  is  not  worth  hearing.     If  a  question  cannot  be 
heard,  the  class  will  demand  its  repetition  or  the  instructor 
will  do  so. 

c)  Dealing  with  questions  too  easy  or  too  hard. — It  is 
taken  for  granted  that  instructors  can  avoid  the  question 
asked  to  start  him  talking,  to  the  great  relief  of  some 
student  dreading  any  such  effort  on  his  own  part.     There 
are  many  questions,  however,  which  seem  to  the  instructor 
to  be  too  easy  because  they  have  just  been  answered  in  the 
preceding  discussion,  or  for  some  other  reason.     He  must 
be  careful  in  deciding  that  such  a  question  is  too  easy  to 
be  worth  attention  because  what  seems  easy  to  him  is  often 
difficult  for  the  class  or  it  may  be  based  on  some  previous 
principle  not  understood,  and  he  may  destroy  the  habit 
of  asking  questions  by  making  the  mistake  of  disregarding 
those  he  thinks  too  easy.     The  best  way  to  decide  the 
matter  is  to  refer  the  question  immediately  to  some  other 
member  of  the  class  for  answer. 

Then  there  is  the  question  which  is  too  difficult  for  the 
class  because  the  student  asking  it  is  more  advanced  than 
other  members  of  the  section  or  because  it  needs  more 
preliminary  study  before  it  is  taken  up  in  due  time  in  the 
course.  It  is  probably  best  to  defer  answers  to  such  ques- 


Questions  and  Answers  31 

tions  or  to  refer  the  student  to  a  proper  source  for  an 
answer  which  he  will  present  to  the  class  at  a  later  date, 
being  assured  that  the  matter  is  important  and  is  to  be 
considered  in  a  few  days.  This  avoids  a  discussion  over  the 
heads  of  the  majority  of  the  students. 

d)  Repetition  of  questions  asked  by  students. — Do  not 
repeat  questions  asked  by  students.     If  the  class  cannot 
hear,  either  they  or  you  will  request  a  repetition.    The 
instructor   desires  especially   to  promote  free   discussion 
between  members  of  his  class,  but  if  he  repeats  their  ques- 
tions their  attention  will  be  centered  upon  him  rather  than 
on  the  student  who  asked  the  question,  and  in  all  likelihood 
the  answers  obtained  will  be  directed  to  the  instructor,  who 
already  knows  the  answer,  rather  than  to  the  student  who 
wants  to  know  it.     It  is  usually  true  that  students  will 
recite  better  when  assisting  a  fellow-student  in  difficulty 
than  when  called  on  by  their  instructor. 

e)  Questions   should   be   asked   of  fellow-students. — The 
next  requirement,  then,  is  that  questions  asked  by  a  student 
should  be  asked  of  the  class  rather  than  of  the  instructor, 
(i)  It  is  often  a  good  plan  to  require  a  student  in  the  front  of 
the  class  to  turn  about  and  face  the  class  when  asking  ques- 
tions.    (2)  If  one  student  is  reciting  and  another  desires  to 
ask  a  question,  he  asks  the  question  of  the  student  who  is 
reciting  and  expects  the  latter  to  answer  him.    If  this  fails, 
the  question  is  referred  to  a  member  of  the  class.    The 
object  of  such  a  method  is  to  have  students  working  together 
and  for  each  other.    It  does  not  mean  that  the  teacher 
shall  stop  working  altogether.     As  a  matter  of  fact  this 
idea  of  a  successful  recitation  lays  down  a  difficult  task  for 
the  instructor  in  that  he  must  not  only  succeed  in  arousing 
the  interest  and  stirring  up  the  active  thought  of  the  class, 
but  he  is  always  in  a  position  to  control  the  discussion,  to 
keep  it  out  of  byways  and  from  "going  to  seed,"  to  terminate 


32  Teaching  in  the  Army 

it  when  necessary,  to  act  as  a  reference  library,  and  always 
to  judge  of  the  value  of  the  work  that  is  being  done. 
The  point  is  that  the  students  are  working.  If  the  class 
consists  of  fifty  men  and  all  fifty  are  at  work,  asking  ques- 
tions of  each  other  and  adding  their  thought  to  his,  it  is 
obvious  that  much  greater  results  will  be  obtained  than  if 
the  instructor  is  doing  most  of  the  work. 

/)  How  to  obtain  good  questions  from  the  class. — Since 
the  questions  asked  by  students  stamp  the  quality  of 
instruction,  the  principles  of  teaching  of  course  apply  to  the 
ways  of  obtaining  good  questions,  (i)  For  example,  first, 
throw  the  emphasis  of  instruction  on  the  class  as  suggested 
in  the  preceding  paragraph,  and  develop  the  habit  of 
constantly  watching  the  way  in  which  the  class  is  working 
rather  than  of  thinking  during  the  recitation  of  what  you 
are  going  to  do  or  say.  (2)  Expect  the  class  always  to 
judge  the  soundness  and  the  worth  of  any  statement  made 
at  any  time.  The  student  who  simply  accepts  a  statement 
as  true  because  somebody  says  so  is  no  student.  Ask  such 
questions  as  "Do  you  agree?"  "Does  anyone  differ?''  or 
"Would  you  like  further  explanation?"  Even  when 
studying  the  drill  regulations  ask,  "Is  that  the  best  method  ? 
Why?"  The  result  will  be  much  clearer  thinking  on  the 
part  of  the  class  and  a  corresponding  increase  in  valuable 
questions.  (3)  Leave  a  problem  with  the  class  for  study. 
When  the  assignment  contains  such  a  task  in  which  the 
group  is  interested,  the  members  will  appear  with  a  number 
of  conclusions  and  questions  for  the  next  recitation. 
(4)  Differentiate  between  good  and  poor  questions.  One 
way  to  do  this  is  to  take  a  question  asked  by  a  student 
and  make  it  the  assignment  for  the  next  period.  One 
class  in  motors  was  studying  the  construction  of  internal- 
combustion  engines,  and  the  illustrations  showed  these  cast 
en  bloc.  A  student  asked,  "What  is  the  reason  for  casting 


Questions  and  Answers  33 

engines  en  bloc?"    Only  a  very  partial  answer  could  be 
obtained  from  the  class,  so  this  question  was  made  one  of 
three  parts  of  the  assignment  for  the  next  day,  and  proper 
references  for  study  were  given. 
3.  Answers 

The  foregoing  discussion  of  questions  has  naturally 
covered  to  a  considerable  extent  the  kinds  of  answers  an 
instructor  desires  and  how  he  goes  about  getting  them. 
There  are  some  ideas,  however,  which  relate  directly  to 
answers  and  which  are  worth  attention. 

a)  Mechanical  requirements  of  good  answers. — (i)  An 
answer  must  be  heard  and  understood  by  all  members  of  the 
class.  Any  membeY  who  does  not  hear  or  who  desires 
further  explanation  of  the  answer  should  be  encouraged  to 
ask  at  any  time  for  what  he  wants. 

(2)  Answers  should  be  grammatically  correct,  and  the 
instructor  can  aid  in  this  by  using  good  grammar  himself 
and  by  insisting  upon  its  use  by  students  whose  answers 
are  not  clear. 

(3)  It  is  often  necessary  to  point  out  the   difference 
between  answers  which  cover  the  question  asked  and  those 
which  go  all  around  it  without  really  answering  it  at  all. 
This  defect  is  often  due  to  a  misunderstanding  of  the  ques- 
tion.    In  such  a  case  the  instructor  should  point  out  the 
gist  of  his  question  so  that  the  student  may  give  a  more 
satisfactory  answer,  but  if  the  question  was  asked  by  a 
student  the  answer  should  be  referred  to  him  for  acceptance. 
Even  when  an  answer  is  accepted  by  a  student,  however,  it 
is  often  well  for  the  instructor  to  make  certain  that  his 
difficulty  has  been  cleared  up  by  asking  him  further  ques- 
tions, especially  since  students  are  inclined  to  accept  any 
answer  of  their  fellows  whether  complete  or  not,  and  such  a 
test  tends  to  develop  judgment  of  the  value  of  statements 
of  all  kinds. 


34  Teaching  in  the  Army 

b)  Memory  answers. — The  kind  of  answer  will  depend 
to  a  large  extent  on  the  kind  of  question  asked.  One  class 
of  answers  may  be  called  memory  answers.  .  Such  answers 
show  the  exact  knowledge  of  students  and  include  defini- 
tions, the  nomenclature  of  the  parts  of  a  piece,  etc.  They 
require  little  time,  should  be  given  quickly,  and  must  be 
concise,  exact,  and  admitting  of  only  one  meaning.  Defini- 
tions especially  require  considerable  attention.  When 
a  student  is  called  on  to  define  mil,  for  example,  his  defini- 
tion should  not  begin  with  the  words  "It  is  when,"  a 
common  error.  Instead  he  should  begin  by  saying,  "A  mil 
is  a  unit — ,"  and  continue  with  an  exact  statement  of  what 
it  is,  following  the  verb  "is"  with  a  noun  and  its  modifiers. 
Definitions  are  the  basis  of  exact  knowledge  and  of  clear 
statements,  and  unless  the  student  can  think  of  a  better 
substitute,  an  unlikely  event,  he  might  as  well  learn  the 
exact  definition  laid  down  in  the  drill  regulations.  An 
occasional  drill  in  memory  answers  is  very  invigorating, 
in  which  the  instructor  requires  a  number  of  definitions, 
names  of  parts,  etc.,  in  rapid  succession,  passing  directly 
from  one  student  to  another  without  waiting  for  the  man  who 
hesitates.  Such  drills  are  not  continued  over  long  periods. 
c)  Thought  answers. — The  second  class  of  answers  may 
be  termed  "thought  answers,"  usually  requiring  more  time 
than  memory  answers.  It  is  necessary  for  the  instructor 
to  remember  that  any  idea  which  a  student  thinks  of  for 
himself  appears  to  him  as  a  discovery,  and  it  is  his  own 
discoveries  that  make  his  work  worth  while.  The  good 
instructor  is  always  on  the  alert  for  such  ideas,  because 
it  is  by  appreciating  just  such  thoughtful  work  that  a  whole 
class  is  taught  to  understand  what  individual  study  means 
and  what  their  own  possibilities  are. 

One  of  the  best  instructors  the  writer  ever  had  is  Pro- 
fessor McMurry,  of  Columbia  University.     He  will  always 


Questions  and  Answers  35 

remember  the  first  recitation  in  this  class.  After  studying 
the  text  very  carefully,  I  was  called  on  and  for  answer 
quoted  almost  word  for  word  what  the  text  had  to  say 
on  the  subject,  feeling  very  well  satisfied  with  my  statement. 
The  instructor  asked  two  questions  which  showed  me  that 
I  really  did  not  know  anything  about  the  subject  but  was 
merely  quoting  someone  else's  ideas.  The  questions  were 
not  asked  in  such  a  way  as  to  discourage  me,  but  when  I 
sat  down  I  appreciated  thoroughly  that  I  had  not  assimilated 
the  reasons  for  the  answer  given.  I  did  not  recite  again 
in  that  class  for  some  time.  Finally  in  my  studies  a  ques- 
tion came  up  which  I  was  unable  to  answer,  so  I  looked 
up  various  references  and  talked  to  other  students  about 
it  and  then  thought  out  my  own  conclusions  about  the 
matter.  Then  one  day  Professor  McMurry  asked  this 
very  question  and  requested  volunteers  to  answer.  I 
volunteered,  but  this  time  I  gave  my  answer  in  two  sentences 
and  decided  not  to  risk  any  more.  The  instructor  was  so 
alert  to  the  thoughts  of  his  class  that  he  seemed  to  know  at 
once  that  I  had  been  thinking  about  this  question,  and  he 
would  not  let  me  even  take  my  seat  but  asked  me  to  explain 
further.  This  time  the  answer  was  satisfactory.  Here  was 
the  secret  of  a  good  answer,  the  expression  of  individually 
applied  thought,  and  with  it  was  discovered  the  pleasure 
that  comes  to  a  student  from  developing  and  expressing 
for  himself  what  he  thinks  to  be  a  good  idea.  Of  course 
the  idea  may  not  be  new  to  the  instructor,  but  he  shows 
his  ability  by  drawing  it  from  the  student  and  by  giving 
him  the  opportunity  of  presenting  and  defending  it. 

This  kind  of  answer  is  what  is  meant  by  a  thought 
answer.  The  illustration  shows  that  students  often  need 
encouragement  in  giving  answers  of  this  kind.  The  instruc- 
tor may  ask,  "What  do  you  mean  by  that  ?"  or  " Can  you 
make  your  meaning  clearer  by  an  illustration?"  or  "Do  it 


36  Teaching  in  the  Army 

and  show  us  just  what  you  mean."  He  niust  be  alert  to  aid 
in  this  way  when  the  student  is  unable  to  complete  his 
answer,  call  on  some  other  member  of  the  class  to  amplify  it, 
and  if  possible  reduce  it  to  a  definite  and  concrete  form. 
It  may  be  necessary  to  defer  the  completion  of  the  answer 
to  the  next  recitation.  Since  this  is  the  kind  of  answer 
most  desired  from  a  group  of  students,  it  is  the  primary 
object  of  a  considerable  part  of  the  work  of  an  instructor. 
d)  Repeating  answers. — Do  not  repeat  answers.  If  the 
instructor  does  this,  the  class  forms  the  habit  of  speaking  to 
him.  This  tends  to  prevent  the  class  from  paying  close 
attention  to  each  other.  Many  officers  conducting  recita- 
tions obtain  the  same  undesirable  result  by  saying  "  Check" 
every  time  they  agree  with  the  answer  given,  and  often 
one  can  see  the  face  of  a  man  just  ready  to  ask  for  further 
information  or  to  raise  an  objection  change  to  an  affirma- 
tive expression  simply  because  the  teacher  agreed.  Answers 
are  primarily  for  the  consideration  of  the  group  of  fellow- 
students  who  are  working  together  on  the  same  subject, 
and  the  reaction  of  this  group  toward  any  answer  is  second- 
ary only  to  the  work  of  the  individual  reciting  and  is  the 
best  test  of  the  recitation.  The  instructor  can  often  tell 
by  watching  the  faces  of  students  whether  they  understand, 
or  agree,  or  differ;  and  instead  of  helping  the  recitation  by 
suggestions  to  the  man  reciting,  he  usually  accomplishes 
more  by  calling  on  the  doubtful  student  for  his  question 
and  having  the  first  man  explain  to  him  his  difficulty.  In  a 
class  so  conducted  one  of  the  highest  forms  of  praise  would 
be  a  complete  silence  after  the  recitation  is  concluded, 
showing  that  both  students  and  teacher  have  understood 
the  recitation  and  found  it  to  satisfy  all  their  questions; 
and  the  next  best  form  of  praise  would  be  a  number  of 
questions  from  all  parts  of  the  room. 


CHAPTER  V 
DRILL 

In  army  instruction  the  value  of  drill  is  recognized 
in  many  ways  and  it  is  especially  emphasized  in  the 
maneuvers  of  dismounted  and  mounted  troops,  in  firing 
with  arms  of  small  and  of  large  caliber,  and  in  many  similar 
activities.  Obviously  drill  varies  in  its  efficiency  and  a 
discussion  of  the  elements  of  successful  drill  may  be  of 
value.  "Practice  makes  perfect"  is  an  old  saying,  and 
certainly  correct  practice  improves  skill.  Repetition, 
however,  is  not  the  only  requirement  for  successful  results. 

1.  Correct  practice 

In  the  first  place,  wrong  practice  is  worse  than  no 
practice.  This  is  illustrated  by  the  fact  that  during  the 
past  war  constant  comment  was  made  by  commanding 
officers  on  the  improper  saluting  in  the  army,  and  this  was 
extremely  difficult  to  change  because  improper  practice 
had  made  incorrect  salutes  a  habit,  especially  in  some 
organizations. 

2.  Prevent  errors  by  a  correct  copy,  desirable   to  imitate 
Perhaps  the  best  means  of  preventing  errors  in   drill 

is  to  present  a  correct  copy  to  the  class.  The  purpose 
and  meaning  of  the  copy  must  be  clear  and  definite,  and 
definite  instructions  to  the  beginners  must  precede  its 
presentation,  so  that  they  know  exactly  what  is  expected  of 
them. 

For  example,  when  teaching  "  Squads  Right,"  a  selected 
squad  is  used  to  demonstrate  the  movement.  Form  the 
learners  in  two  ranks,  have  them  count  off  and  form  squads, 

37 


3 8  Teaching  in  the  Army 

and  require  each  man  to  watch  the  movement  of  his  number 
in  the  exhibition  squad.  After  front  and  rear  ranks  of  the 
special  squad  have  executed  squads  right  separately,  then 
together,  have  the  beginners  execute  it  a  few  times,  and 
then  call  on  individuals  to  tell  what  they  did.  Often 
their  replies  are  almost  in  the  words  of  the  book,  which  they 
have  not  seen.  Then  have  the  class  change  places,  count 
off,  and  repeat  the  process  throughout.  In  a  short  time 
all  will  be  executing  the  movement  correctly  and  will  be 
able  to  explain  it. 

In  addition  to  having  the  class  know  just  what  the 
copy  is  for  and  what  they  themselves  are  to  do,  it  is  necessary 
to  have  the  copy  one  desirable  to  imitate.  Men  on  exhibi- 
tion drill,  when  well  selected,  take  pleasure  in  their  work 
and  their  snap  and  vigor  inspire  emulation.  A  very 
excellent  copy  of  work  in  tactics,  in  mapping,  and  in  other 
subjects  has  the  same  effect.  As  a  copy  for  just  such  a 
purpose  the  moving  pictures  developed  by  the  General 
Staff  have  very  great  value  and  their  use  shows  immediate 
results. 

3.  Concentrated  attention 

To  get  best  results  from  drill,  the  learner  must  think 
about  what  he  is  doing.  This  is  one  reason  why  ques- 
tions were  asked  of  individuals  learning  squads  right 
above.  Some  suggestions  as  to  how  to  obtain  close 
attention  will  lead  any  instructor  to  think  of  many 
others  of  value,  (a)  Drill  should  be  quite  vigorous  and 
should  be  interspersed  with  short  rest  periods,  (b)  Variety 
in  drill  aids  in  holding  attention,  while  a  constant 
repetition  without  variations  tends  toward  the  opposite 
result.  In  perfecting  a  movement,  continue  at  it  for  a 
time,  change  to  something  else,  then  return  to  it;  and 
even  the  same  movement  may  be  continued  if  used 


Drill  39 

in  different  situations,  (c)  Selecting  students  to  criticize 
units  adds  to  alertness,  (d)  Catch  schemes  such  as 
"Simon  says"  or  "Grady  says"  are  often  used  for  the 
same  purpose,  (e)  Attention  is  much  better  concentrated 
on  any  drill  whose  purpose  is  clearly  defined  in  the  minds 
of  students.  (/)  In  short,  practically  all  the  discussion 
of  drill  in  this  chapter  emphasizes  the  value  of  attention 
in  drill. 

4.  Mental  attitude  of  the  student  toward  drill    ' 

Many  officers  who  trained  troops  during  the  world-war 
are  witnesses  to  the  effect  of  the  mental  attitude  of  the  men 
upon  the  success  of  their  efforts.  A  senior  instructor  of 
one  brigade  stated  recently  that  this  was  90  per  cent  of  his 
work  and  required  such  agencies  as  the  following:  an 
organization  to  collect  bills  due  troops  at  their  homes  and 
to  arrange  for  credit  for  their  families,  etc. ;  special  efforts 
of  the  morale  branch  in  the  line  of  entertainment;  co- 
operation of  chaplains  and  others  in  learning  private 
troubles  and  arranging  them;  .  and  many  others.  With 
most  of  the  private  worries  out  of  the  way,  attention  to 
proper  methods  of  drill  almost  invariably  showed  surprising 
results.  Even  under  these  circumstances,  however,  where 
there  was  a  special  incentive  in  impending  action,  drill 
often  became  monotonous  and  in  a  longer  period  tended 
to  be  looked  on  with  antipathy. 

The  principal  purpose  of  drill  is  the  formation  of  correct 
habits.  Some  leading  psychologists  maintain  that  any 
act  which  brings  pleasurable  consequences  tends  to  become 
a  fixed  response  or  habit  more  readily  than  one  which  is 
followed  by  unpleasant  results  because  of  certain  physio- 
logical effects  on  the  brain.  Other  psychologists  reject  the 
idea  of  these  physiological  effects,  but  they  agree  that 
pleasurable  consequences  make  drill  more  perfect  because 


4o  Teaching  in  the  Army 

they  induce  further  drill  on  the  part  of  the  individual. 
In  either  case  it  seems  certain  that  it  should  be  the  plan 
of  the  instructor  to  connect  drill  with  pleasurable  conse- 
quences so  far  as  possible  in  order  to  get  best  results, 
especially  to  connect  successful  work  in  this  way.  This 
is  frequently  done  and  is  not  contrary  to  the  idea  of  disci- 
pline. 

One  source  of  pleasure  in  any  kind  of  work  is  a  personal 
feeling  of  success  and  progress.  One  means  of  obtaining 
this  feeling  in  classes  is  by  posting  a  report  of  the  progress 
of  the  section,  squads,  or  individuals,  preferably  in  a  graphic 
form,  with  a  clear  statement  of  the  standards  to  be  attained 
to  advance  through  the  various  grades  of  development. 
Some  such  suggestions  are  made  under  the  discussion  of 
marking.  The  more  definite  the  standards  for  self- 
judgment,  the  better  the  individual  can  measure  his  prog- 
ress. It  is  partly  for  this  purpose  that  qualification  as 
expert  rifleman,  first-class  gunner,  etc.,  should  be  offered 
every  man,  and  a  list  of  those  qualifying  should  be  posted, 
together  with  a  statement  of  requirements  for  qualification. 
Such  definite  ways  of  judging  are  needed  in  different  stages 
of  progress  in  all  subjects. 

A  second  source  of  pleasure  from  work  is  some  external 
recognition  of  progress,  expressing  appreciation  of  success  by 
others  than  himself.  A  valuable  way  of  doing  this  is  to 
provide  for  men  to  complete  different  phases  of  their  drill 
when  they  have  become  expert  in  them.  For  example, 
when  a  man  has  completed  the  requirements  for  Semaphore, 
he  should  "pass  "  to  wigwag;  the  school  of  the  squad  should 
be  completed  for  the  the  school  of  the  platoon;  and  only 
occasional  reviews  of  subjects  passed  would  be  required. 
Here  again  requirements  for  advancement  should  be  very 
definite  so  that  each  student  can  judge  his  own  progress. 
Other  ways  of  expressing  appreciation  of  real  success  are 


Drill  41 

numerous,  and  those -are  more  valuable  for  drill  which  are 
based  on  a  definite  standard  of  accomplishment.  Such 
standards  need  to  be  developed  in  different  subjects. 

Other  details  of  the  proper  mental  attitude  toward  drill 
are  discussed  in  the  various  paragraphs  of  this  chapter. 

5.  Begin  drill  with  the  simpler  and  fundamental  elements 
The    habits   formed    at  first   must  be   exact,  for  ex- 
ample the  correct  position  of  the  soldier  at  attention  or 
the  positions  of  the  hands  and  arms  in  signaling.     The 
fundamentals  must  be  developed  deliberately  and  with 
patient  attention  to  detail.     Here  the  model  is  used  fre- 
quently and  with  careful  precision.     Later  complex  develop- 
ments will  then  be  easier  because  the  basic  elements  have 
become  habits  and  need  little  attention  on  the  part  of  the 
student. 

6.  Drill  must  be  individual 

Attention  to  individuals  is  the  basis  of  economical  drill. 
Pick  out  individual  errors  for  correction.  In  large  classes 
have  the  corporals  rate  the  performance  of  the  individuals  of 
his  squad  or  the  sergeant  of  his  section;  in  other  cases  use 
methods  like  those  suggested  in  chapter  ii  for  judging  indi- 
vidual differences;  and  use  the  results  for  the  selection  of 
individuals  for  certain  kinds  of  treatment.  Poor  men  retard- 
ing the  whole  class  should  be  picked  out  and  given  indi- 
vidual instruction  by  someone  well  qualified.  Never  drill  a 
few  men  at  the  expense  of  a  large  group.  Experts  should 
likewise  be  picked  and  should  be  advanced  or  given  special 
recognition  as  drillmasters,  etc. 

7.  Habits  formed  best  in  definite  situations 

The  object  of  drill  is  to  form  habits.  This  is  accom- 
plished best  by  drill  in  definite  situations.  For  example,  it 
is  desired  of  officers  and  men  that  military  courtesy  become 


42  Teaching  in  the  Army 

ingrained.  This  is  accomplished  by  practice  in  definite 
situations.  A  superior  officer  approaches  and  all  come  to 
attention  and  salute;  practice  in  reporting  in  different  situ- 
ations is  repeated.  Attention  to  such  details  forms  the  habit 
desired  and  it  could  not  be  formed  in  any  general  way.  The 
same  demand  for  definite  situations  for  practice  can  be 
made  of  instruction  in  tactics  in  which  one  real  section  of 
terrain  after  another  is  occupied  and  the  proper  evolutions 
executed  in  each  case,  ending  in  the  proper  reactions  and 
solutions  in  new  cases.  Even  one  simple  reaction  is  only 
a  habit  in  a  few  situations  unless  it  has  been  practiced  in 
many  situations.  The  use  of  problems  in  drill  is  important 
both  to  make  it  interesting  and  to  make  it  general. 

8.  The  instructor  an  example  of  results 

Finally  the  instructor  should  be  an  example  of  the 
results  desired  in  his  men  to  carry  out  most  successfully 
the  requirements  for  success  in  drill. 


CHAPTER  VI 
PLANNING  A  RECITATION 

i.  Necessity  for  planning  recitations 

When  an  instructor  applies  the  principles  of  teaching 
so  far  considered,  he  may  find  that  the  recitation  periods 
are  passing  very  quickly  and  that  part  of  the  work  to  be 
covered  is  in  danger  of  being  omitted  for  lack  of  time. 
When  a  course  is  laid  out,  it  is  planned  to  cover  a  certain 
amount  of  subject-matter.  Such  a  course  is  grouped  into 
various  main  topics ;  the  instructor  must  consider  how 
much  time  each  topic  will  require  and  assign  to  each  recita- 
tion period  a  fairly  definite  part  of  the  topic.  Each  hour, 
then,  requires  a  plan  in  order  that  all  parts  of  the  subject 
may  be  thoroughly  studied.  In  addition  to  this,  the  prin- 
ciples of  teaching  call  for  a  plan.  The  way  of  presenting 
work  varies  with  different  classes;  the  work  of  the  preced- 
ing period  must  be  considered ;  and  it  will  not  do  to  depend 
on  the  inspiration  of  the  moment  for  the  best  pivotal  ques- 
tions or  for  good  illustrative  material  and  references.  So 
many  beginners  obtain  good  results  in  teaching  because  they 
feel  it  necessary  to  plan  their  recitations,  while  many 
experienced  instructors  grow  stale  because  they  miss  the 
freshness  and  interest  which  come  from  a  little  forethought. 

2.  Elements  of  a  lesson  plan 

A  plan  must  first  consider  the  ground  to  be  covered 
during  the  recitation  period.  This  naturally  falls  into 
three  parts,  the  review,  the  advance,  and  the  assignment. 
A  definite  section  of  the  time  should  be  allotted  to  each 
part.  At  times  a  recitation  may  be  all  review,  at  times  all 

43 


44  Teaching  in  the  Army 

assignment,  as  when  a  complete  period  is  taken  up  in 
considering  the  next  few  days'  work,  but  usually  all  three 
parts  are  included  in  one  recitation  period. 

3.  The  aim 

Each  day's  recitation  must  have  a  definite  aim  or 
object,  and  this  object  determines  the  arrangement  of 
subject-matter  and  the  length  of  time  for  each  part.  The 
aim  is  the  basis  of  the  lesson  plan.  It  should  be  com- 
prehended by  the  class,  should  be  specific  rather  than 
general,  and  applies  to  the  "why"  and  the  "what"  of  the 
lesson,  not  the  "how." 

The  following  are  examples  of  aims  in  recitations: 

a)  Materiel. — To  learn  nomenclature  of  the  traversing 
mechanism    and    obtain    practice    in    disassembling    and 
assembling  it. 

b)  Care  of  horses. — To  discover  clearly  the  fundamental 
points  considered  in  the  selection  of  horses  for  artillery. 

c)  Dismounted  drill. — To  increase  the  carrying  power  of 
the  voices  of  students  in  giving  commands  and  to  perfect 
certain  maneuvers. 

d)  Mathematics. — To  make  clear  the  method  of  analysis 
of  a  problem,  especially  emphasizing  care  in  discovering 
its  meaning  and  ways  of  forming  an  equation. 

4.  Method 

Having  the  aim  of  the  recitation  in  view,  the  methods 
of  attaining  it  are  considered.  Methods  in  the  lesson 
plan  must  be  detailed,  so  that  they  include  important 
questions  to  be  asked,  illustrations,  references,  practical 
problems,  etc.,  and  these  arranged  in  sequence. 

The  following  methods  have  been  used  for  the  aims 
stated  in  the  preceding  paragraph: 

a)  Materiel. — Class  of  twenty,  assign  four  men  to  each 
gun,  guns  in  circle  around  instructor;  groups  dismount 


Planning  a  Recitation  45 

traversing  mechanism  as  instructed,  each  part  named  as 
dismounted  and  placed  in  regular  order  on  paulin;  review 
nomenclature  by  naming  parts  and  calling  on  individuals 
to  hold  them  up,  then  by  holding  up  parts  and  asking 
groups  for  names;  reassemble  parts;  return  tools. 

b)  Care  of  horses. — Have  an  artillery  horse  on  hand; 
weigh  him  and  compare  with  standard  weights  for  artillery 
horses;     height,    relation    of   height    to    weight;     general 
indications  of  quality  in  hair,  bones,  joints,  head,  feet; 
action  shown  and  criticized;  general  study  of  various  parts 
of  the  horse,  head,  neck,  shoulders,  withers,  etc.;   tests  of 
temperament.     Follow    by    short    quiz    asking    only   for 
nomenclature  of  parts. 

c)  Dismounted  drill. — State  purpose  to  class.     Review, 
select  student  officer  to  stand  at  distance  of  100  yards  and 
give  the  following  commands,  the  last  five  repeated  forcibly 
by  the  class  before  execution  (10  min.);    second  student 
drop  from  ranks  and  march  company  to  position  of  first, 
giving  following  commands  at  that  distance,  commands, 
then  repeat  with  group  giving  commands  before  execution 
(10  min.);    like  maneuvers  by  two  other  students  giving 

the  following  commands:   (i) •,  (2) •  (20  min.); 

company  marched  to  east  side  of  field,  facing  east,  to  be 
moved  by  four  commands  to  a  definite  position  by  sixth 
student  (10  min.);    instructor  takes  command  and  tests 
for  maneuvers  indicated  in  the  aim  (10  min.). 

5.  Summary  of  conclusions 

At  the  end  of  the  period  it  is  necessary  in  most  recitations 
to  have  the  class  sum  up  the  outstanding  conclusions 
reached  in  the  lesson.  For  example,  in  the  materiel  lesson 
above,  this  was  done  by  asking  the  following  question: 
"Trace  the  action  of  the  traversing  mechanism  from  the 
turn  of  the  handwheel  to  the  movement  of  the  cradle/' 


46  Teaching  in  the  Army 

A  definite  summary  of  this  nature  is  of  great  benefit  in  all 
subjects  because  it  fixes  clearly  the  main  points  to  be 
remembered  and  assists  students  in  review  and  in  organizing 
their  work. 

6.  Review 

An  important  part  of  the  student's  work  is  to  remember 
much  of  his  course.  The  best  way  to  remember  a  problem 
once  solved  is  to  repeat  it  occasionally  in  some  form  or 
another.  The  instructor  may  be  sure  that  the  class  must 
repeat  and  repeat  again,  and  then  he  is  often  astonished  that 
after  the  third  or  fourth  time  the  principles  he  thought 
clearest  and  best  fixed  are  not  even  understood  by  some  of 
the  students.  The  lesson  plan  must  provide  definite 
time  and  definite  material  for  review.  Usually  it  is  best 
to  have  a  few  minutes  of  review  at  the  beginning  of  the 
period  to  sum  up  salient  points  in  previous  lessons  which 
bear  on  the  day's  advance.  The  preceding  paragraph 
pointed  out  the  need  for  a  review  at  the  end  of  the  period, 
in  which  students  state  the  things  that  stand  out  boldest  in 
the  recitation.  The  successful  instructor  prepares  certain 
review  questions  for  the  day  as  carefully  as  he  plans  the 
method  for  advance  work,  and  in  records  of  work  kept  in 
such  units  as  those  of  the  R.O.T.C.  the  review  should  be 
included  with  the  advance  and  the  assignment. 

At  the  conclusion  of  a  main  division  of  a  course — for  ex- 
ample, after  studying  the  3 -inch  battery  in  materiel— a  com- 
plete period  of  oral  review  is  advisable,  probably  followed 
by  a  written  quiz.  For  general  reviews  of  this  nature  the 
advantage  of  having  an  outline  of  the  course  in  the  hands  of 
the  class  is  obvious,  and  this  is  one  reason  for  placing  before 
students  such  an  outline  either  at  the  beginning  of  their 
work  or  during  its  progress.  A  plan  for  review  which  often 
brings  excellent  results  is  to  prepare  a  set  of  questions 


Planning  a  Recitation  47 

covering  much  of  the  course,  give  them  to  the  class  in 
mimeographed  form,  and  then  select  examination  questions 
from  the  set.  If  the  questions  are  well  selected  they  pro- 
vide for  adequate  review,  and  the  last  suggestion  insures 
careful  attention  to  them. 

7.  Assignments 

Perhaps  teachers  fail  more  in  giving  assignments  than 
in  any  other  part  of  their  instruction.  This  is  due  to  a  lack 
of  appreciation  of  the  importance  of  assignments.  The 
primary  purpose  of  this  part  of  the  lesson  plan  is  to  show 
students  how  to  study  the  advance.  Most  students  do 
not  know  how  to  study.  Hundreds  of  graduate  students 
have  said  that  they  never  learned  how  to  study  until  they 
had  finished  their  college  work  and  had  started  on  profes- 
sional graduate  courses.  For  this  their  instructors  are 
largely  to  blame. 

Good  study  includes  several  important  parts. — (a)  It  is 
necessary  for  the  student  to  know  exactly  what  the  assign- 
ment is,  and  it  is  best  for  him  to  write  down  clearly  the 
material  it  includes,  (b)  Like  the  recitation,  the  results  of 
study  depend  on  the  aim  for  that  particular  day's  study,  or 
on  the  problem  in  mind.  For  example,  if  the  class  is  to 
find  out  methods  of  doing  certain  things,  its  attention 
will  be  centered  on  how  they  are  done  rather  than  the 
results  of  doing  them.  No  assignment  is  satisfactory 
unless  it  impresses  clearly  on  the  minds  of  the  class  the  aim 
of  their  study  for  the  next  day.  (c)  Study  calls  for  an 
organization  of  the  subject-matter,  often  termed  skeletoniz- 
ing the  subject-matter.  This  means  the  grouping  of  minor 
topics  about  the  few  main  topics  suggested  in  the  material. 
Textbooks  are  usually,  divided  into  paragraphs,  each  with 
its  own  heading,  but  these  paragraphs  are  minor  topics  which 
need  to  be  collected  in  support  of  the  main  ideas  in  the 


48  Teaching  in  the  Army 

lesson.  Students  need  help  in  organizing  their  study 
material,  and  the  assignment  provides  for  this.  It  is 
usually  done  by  pointing  out  the  one,  two,  or  three  main 
problems  to  be  solved  or  major  ideas  to  be  considered; 
sometimes  by  showing  in  addition  the  parts  of  the  text 
dealing  with  each  topic;  and  sometimes  by  leaving  to  the 
class  the  task  of  so  selecting  the  subject-matter.  For 
example,  in  studying  equitation  the  use  of  the  aids  is  being 
covered  theoretically  and  practically,  and  the  assignment 
presents  the  problems,  "What  aids  would  you  use  in 
jumping,  and  why?"  "What  difficulties  do  you  meet  in 
turning  on  the  forehand  and  how  are  they  overcome  ? " 
"Prepare  a  rating  scale  for  marking  the  members  of  this 
section  on  their  seats."  (d)  Individual  study  requires  a 
judging  of  the  value  of  the  subject-matter,  not  only  in 
organizing  it,  but  also  in  deciding  whether  it  is  true,  whether 
it  is  well  stated,  whether  it  applies  to  the  aim  of  the  lesson, 
etc.  This  faculty  is  developed  in  the  recitation,  (e)  Study 
is  not  complete  when  it  simply  includes  the  ideas  of  the 
book,  but  this  must  be  supplemented  by  one's  own  ideas 
and  experiences.  For  example,  "This  is  different  from  the 
way  I  did  this  yesterday.  How  does  it  differ  ?  Which  is 
better?"  Or,  "According  to  this,  a  regiment  takes  so 
many  minutes  to  get  under  way.  How  far  could  we  go  in 
a  morning?"  The  questions  of  the  instructor  in  class 
will  call  for  such  supplementary  thought,  and  the  assign- 
ment includes  questions  requiring  it.  (/)  Remembering 
certain  ideas  or  facts  is  an  important  part  of  study.  The 
assignment  suggests  some  parts  to  memorize. 

The  time  spent  by  a  student  in  study  is  as  important  as 
that  spent  in  class.  Usually  a  few  minutes  spent  at  the 
conclusion  of  a  period  in  bringing  out  a  problem  or  two  to 
be  answered  in  the  coming  work,  as  indicated  above,  makes 
the  difference  between  successful  study  and  poor  study. 


Planning  a  Recitation  49 

Form  of  assignments. — Assignments  are  made  in  many 
forms.  In  some  of  the  training  camps  during  the  war  it 
was  found  that  certain  subjects  were  not  thoroughly  covered, 
that  many  sections  fell  behind  the  schedules  of  instruction, 
and  that  men  needed  more  aid  in  their  study,  To  meet  this 
difficulty,  printed  assignments  were  prepared  for  each 
day's  study  and  a  copy  given  to  each  student  at  the  end  of 
the  recitation.  This  material  was  required  because  most 
officers  had  so  little  time  to  prepare  assignments,  the  sub- 
jects were  so  condensed  that  the  recitation  was  crowded, 
and  many  officers  were  not  sufficiently  able  to  prepare 
assignments  even  with  time.  The  printed  copies  consisted 
usually  of  a  set  of  questions  or  of  problems  to  be  answered 
from  the  text,  many  questions  involving  considerable 
individual  thought.  The  following  is  an  illustration: 

CONDUCT  OF  FIRE.    STUDY  ASSIGNMENT 
Second  week,  first  hour.     Pars.  1155-58,  1196,  1207,  F.A.D.R. 

Aim:  Understanding  of  parallax  and  the  effect  of  obliquity, 
and  a  clear  idea  of  deflection  in  preparation  for  firing  data. 

1.  How  many  mils  in  30°  ?     How  many  degrees  in  1,000  mils  ? 
Ans.:   533J  mils;   565°. 

2.  Define  parallax.     Compute  the  parallax  of  400  yards  at  a 
point  2,500  yards  away  on  a  perpendicular. 

3.  Define  obliquity.     Draw  a  circle  indicating  the  limits  of 
the  obliquity  factors,  no  interpolation. 

4.  Compute  the  parallax  in  question  2  if  the  point  is  800  mils 
to  the  right  of  the  perpendicular. 

5.  Show  by  diagram  one  gun  in  position  (G),  a  target  (T) 
2,000  yards  away,  an  aiming  point  (P)  5,000  yards  to  the  right 
rear,  and  an  observing  station  (BC)  500  yards  to  the  exact  right 
of  the  gun.     Which  angle  is  larger,  PGT  or  PBCT  ? 

6.  By  parallel  lines  construct  an  angle  at  BC  equal  to  PGT. 

7.  What  is  deflection?     From  what  is  it  measured  and  in 
what  direction  ? 

8.  How  close  to  their  computed  values  are  the  initial  deflection 
and  deflection  difference  usually  sent  to  the  guns  ? 


So  Teaching  in  the  Army 

This  assignment  prepares  for  computation  of  firing  data 
in  class. 

Whatever  the  form  of  the  assignment,  whether  a  brief 
glance  over  the  new  work,  or  an  oral  problem,  or  oral 
questions  to  be  settled  by  study,  or  written  material  of  some 
kind,  it  should  contain  a  definite  aim,  a  suggestion  of 
organization,  and  a  demand  for  actual  application  of  the 
material  in  some  way.  It  requires  a  definite  time  in 
the  lesson  plan  and  is  worth  careful  preparation  by  the 
instructor. 

8.  Summary 

A  complete  lesson  plan  will  probably  take  the  form 
indicated  below: 

A.  Materials  covered  in  the  lesson. 

1.  Review.  ( — min.). 

2.  Advance.     ( —  min.). 

3.  Assignment.     ( —  min).     In  detail. 

B.  Outline  of  the  lesson  in  detail. 

1.  Aim. 

2.  Method.     (Details  of  review  of  advance.) 

3.  Results.     (Instructor's    idea    of    success    of 
lesson.) 

It  will  assist  the  class  to  know  the  plan  of  the  recitation, 
since  this  increases  their  interest,  helps  them  to  remember 
important  ideas,  and  shows  them  how  to  study. 


CHAPTER  VII 
MARKING,  GRADING,  OR  RATING 

i.  An  experiment  in  grading  done  by  officers 

Finding  that  the  marks  in  conduct  of  fire  given  some 
8,000  students  in  one  training  camp  varied  enormously 
between  batteries,  and  that  some  grades  were  much  too 
high  and  others  as  much  too  low,  the  writer  tried  the 
experiment  of  assembling  all  instructors  of  the  subject 
and  giving  them  a  single  set  of  answers  to  grade.  The 
paper  to  be  marked  consisted  of  ten  answers  to  a  test 
handed  in  by  a  candidate,  each  answer  valued  at  10  per 
cent  for  correct  and  most  of  them  simple  computations. 
Each  question  was  carefully  considered  by  the  group  of 
instructors,  the  correct  answer  determined,  and  a  value 
set  on  each  part  of  an  answer,  so  that  every  precaution 
possible  was  taken  to  obtain  uniform  grading.  Each 
answer  was  discussed  and  marked  before  taking  up 
the  next,  and  any  question  as  to  errors  was  answered. 
The  rating  was  done  independently  by  each  instructor. 
The  resulting  grades  were  distributed  as  shown  in  the 
graph  on  page  52. 

a)  Reading  the  graph. — Numbers  below  the  graph  indi- 
cate grades  by  percentage,  numbers  on  the  left  indicate 
number  of  officers  giving  any  grade,  and  the  numbers  on 
horizontal  lines  of  the  graph  indicate  definitely  the  number 
of  officers  giving  the  grade  immediately  below,  which 
number  is  represented  graphically  by  the  height  of  each 
line  above  the  base  line.  The  graph  may  be  read  as  fol- 
lows: (i)  grades  on  the  one  paper  varied  from  43  per  cent 
to  88  per  cent;  (2)  it  was  rated  at  43  per  cent  by  one  officer, 


52  Teaching  in  the  Army 

at  44  per  cent  by  two  officers,  etc.,  at  62  per  cent  by  forty- 
two  officers,  etc.;  (3)  since  there  were  four  hundred  and 
five  officers,  the  middle  or  median  grade  is  the  203 d  in 
the  line,  and  the  203d  grade  falls  in  the  group  rated  62  per 
cent,  so  that  practically  as  many  officers  gave  a  grade 


V  fu 

k^^V1  f\  6# 


FIG.  3. — Distribution  of  grades  given  by  the  same  test 
paper  in  conduct  of  fire  by  four  hundred  and  five  officers. 

above  62  per  cent  as  below  62  per  cent,  which  is  the  median 
or  the  middle  grade;  (4)  two  hundred  and  twenty-seven 
papers,  or  56  per  cent  of  the  total,  fell  between  59  per  cent 
and  65  per  cent,  inclusive,  or  more  than  one-half  were  within 
3  per  cent  of  the  median  grade,  while  between  the  grades 
55  per  cent  and  70  per  cent,  a  variation  of  16  per  cent, 
there  were  341,  or  84  per  cent  of  the  total  papers;  (5)  the 


Marking,  Grading,  or  Rating  53 

error  as  often  exceeded  as  not,  or  the  " probable  error,'' 
was  3!  per  cent. 

b)  Conclusions  from  the  graph. — (i)  The  wide  distribu- 
tion of  grades  shows  that  there  is  a  great  variation  in  mark- 
ing even  in  a  case  apparently  so  simple.  A  special  study 
of  grades  given  by  field  officers  in  the  group  showed  a 
variation  almost  as  great.  Evidently,  then,  the  subject 
of  grading  needs  close  attention. 

(2)  The  close  grouping  of  such  a  large  percentage  of 
grades  about  the  median  is  unusual.     Most  similar  studies 
of  marking  show  less  grouping  and  a  larger  probable  error, 
running  from  5  per  cent  to  9  per  cent.     In  this  case  the 
grouping  was  probably  due  to  the  unusual  precautions 
taken  in  marking,  which  tends  to  show  that  it  is  possible 
to  train  most  officers  to  grade  fairly  evenly  by  careful 
instruction  in  marking. 

(3)  In  view  of  the  care  taken  in  this  case,  however,  it 
seems  true  that  it  is  probably  impossible  to  obtain  uniform 
grading  with  such  a  scale  as  the  one  used,  namely  a  100  per 
cent  or  one-hundred-unit  scale. 

2.  A  comparison  of  scales  of  fine  units  and  of  coarse  units 

The  paper  in  the  experiment  above  was  rated  on  a 
100  per  cent  scale  and  the  final  grade  given  in  units  of  i  per 
cent.  Let  us  see  what  would  have  been  the  effect  of 
grading  each  question  as  before  but  expressing  the  final 
mark  in  terms  of  a  coarser  scale,  such  as  is  usually  indicated 
by  the  letters  A,  B,  C,  etc.  The  following  table  shows 
exactly  the  same  marks  as  were  given  in  the  experiment 
above  expressed  in  terms  of  the  scales  indicated  below. 

a)  Conclusions  from  table. — (i)  The  coarse  scale  A 
would  have  resulted  in  82  per  cent  of  the  instructors  giving 
the  same  grade,  C,  or  Fair,  and  consequently  in  a  greatly 
decreased  variation.  If  D  had  been  taken  as  Failure, 


54 


Teaching  in  the  Army 


9\  per  cent  of  the  officers  would  have  so  marked  the  paper. 
(2)  The  second  scale,  B,  shows  a  wider  variation,  with 
63  per  cent  of  the  instructors  giving  D  and  25  per  cent 
giving  E,  a  total  of  88  per  cent  for  the  two.  If  grades 
below  60  per  cent  were  considered  Failure,  27  per  cent  of 

RATINGS  EXPRESSED  ON  A  COARSER  SCALE 
SCALE  A* 


Grade 

Per  Cent  Value 

Rating 

No.  of 
Papers 

Per  Cent  of 
Total 

A.. 
B  

86-lpo 
71-   8S 

Excellent 
Good 

2 

8 

J 

8 

C  

<\6—  70 

Fair 

332 

82 

D. 

/IT  —    CtJ 

Poor 

•7Q 

Q£ 

E  

^         1,1 
40  and  beloW 

Failure 

o 

o 

Total 

40« 

IOO 

SCALE  B 

A.. 

90—100 

Excellent 

o 

o 

B. 

80-  80 

Very  good  (G)  f 

12 

•2 

C  

7O—   70 

Good  (Fair) 

27 

7 

D 

60-  69 

Fair  (Poor) 

2<tf 

63 

E  

50—  59 

Poor  (Fail) 

IO3 

25 

F 

49  and  below 

Failure 

7 

2 

Total 

405 

IOO 

*Scale  A  uses  units  corresponding  to  15  per  cent  in  the  original  experiment. 
fWords  in  parentheses  indicate  ratings  often  given  the  preceding  grade. 

the  officers  would  have  so  marked  the  paper.  (3)  It  is 
evident  that  a  coarser  scale  means  more  uniformity  in 
marking  a  single,  paper.  (4)  While  a  very  fine  scale  tends 
to  too  great  variation  among  instructors  in  marking,  it  may 
be  that  one  too  coarse  will  not  indicate  closely  enough 
the  differences  between  the  various  individuals  in  a  class. 
Evidently  the  scale  can  be  either  too  fine  or  too  coarse. 


Marking,  Grading,  or  Rating  55 

b)  General  opinion. — A  number  of  prominent  educational 
investigators  have  published  results  of  studies  of  marking 
systems,  and  the  consensus  of  opinion  is  that  when  marking 
work  in  this  way  the  minimum  size  of  the  marking  unit 
should  be  about  10  per  cent,  though  a  few  say  5  per  cent, 
and  that  there  should  be  about  four  such  units  above  the 
failure  mark.  The  failure  point  varies  with  type  of  sub- 
ject, of  instruction,  of  text,  etc.  The  two  illustrations 
show  failure  at  40  per  cent  and  50  per  cent,  respectively, 
standards  often  used  in  the  army.  At  any  rate  it  is 
the  growing  tendency  to  mark  with  such  coarser  units 
and  such  a  system  may  well  be  adopted  by  any  instructor. 

3.  Objective  rating  scales    . 

With  reference  to  grading,  the  most  pronounced  tend- 
ency in  the  educational  field  today  is  toward  objective 
scales  for  rating  qualities  or  knowledge.  The  greatest 
cause  of  this  tendency  is  an  effort  to  reduce  the  variation 
in  marks  due  to  the  personal  differences  of  instructors. 
These  scales  are  usually  quantitative,  so  that  higher  marks 
are  obtained  by  doing  more  work,  as  illustrated  in  the  Curtiss 
scales  for  arithmetic,  the  variation  in  quality  being  provided 
for  by  variation  in  types  of  work  in  the  different  parts  of 
the  tests.  Other  tests,  like  the  Thorndike  Writing  Scale, 
are  almost  entirely  for  the  quality  of  work  done.  It  is 
impossible  to  discuss  such  scales  here.  The  psychological 
rating  tests  used  in  the  army  during  the  war  and  the  uni- 
versal rating  scales  for  the  essential  qualities  of  officers  were 
the  beginning  of  efforts  in  this  direction  in  our  service. 

a)  Illustration. — Efforts  toward  objective  rating  scales 
for  different  subjects  taught  in  the  R.O.T.C.  are  of  interest. 
In  one  unit  the  sections  in  materiel  were  given  a  list  of  some 
five  hundred  parts  which  they  should  be  able  to  name  and 
locate,  and  thirty-three  questions  on  design,  operation, 


56  Teaching  in  the  Army 

ammunition,  etc.,  which  covered  the  course.  The  five 
hundred  parts  counted  50  per  cent  of  the  whole,  so  that  a 
single  failure  in  one  of  them  cost  iV  per  cent;  the  thirty- 
three  questions  counted  50  per  cent,  so  that  a  failure  on 
one  cost  i£  per  cent.  The  whole  scale  was  used  for  testing 
a  student  or  a  section,  and  fairly  absolute  results  were 
obtained,  since  the  part  touched  was  either  right  or  wrong, 
whatever  the  personal  attitude  of  the  instructor,  and  an 
error  in  a  question  made  it  incorrect.  For  a  section  of  ten 
students,  each  man  was  simply  asked  fifty  of  the  five  hun- 
dred parts,  each  valued  at  i  per  cent,  and  three  of  the  thirty- 
three  questions,  each  valued  at  17  per  cent,  the  men  being 
taken  in  rotation.  Suppose  one  man  answered  correctly 
thirty-five  of  the  fifty  parts  and  two  of  the  three  questions, 
his  grade  would  be  35  per  cent  plus  24  per  cent,  or  79  per 
cent,  and  his  rating  would  be  C.  This  is  the  beginning  of 
an  objective  scale  of  a  quantitative  nature.  Such  scales 
should  be  made  of  parts  of  equal  value  or  difficulty  and 
the  answers  should  admit  of  exact  grading,  that  is  they 
are  either  right  or  wrong.  Their  development  in  the  army 
is  a  matter  for  the  future. 

b)  Advantages. — (i)  One  of  the  main  reasons  for  objec- 
tive rating  scales  was  stated  as  the  necessity  for  removing 
as  far  as  possible  the  personal  variation  in  marking.  (2)  A 
second  reason  of  great  importance  is  that  such  a  scale  fur- 
nishes the  student  with  a  measure  of  his  own  advance. 
Among  the  obvious  advantages  of  this  are  increased  interest, 
a  clearer  knowledge  of  what  he  is  working  for,  and  a  satis- 
factory basis  for  considering  his  own  work  independent  of 
the  ideas  of  the  instructor.  (3)  A  third  reason  for  such 
scales  is  that  they  enable  the  student  to  understand  just 
what  his  marks  mean,  bringing  him  in  closer  touch  with 
the  instructor.  (4)  Grades  so  given  are  much  more  satis- 
factory to  the  instructor  for  much  the  same  reasons,  and 


Marking,  Grading,  or  Rating  57 

especially  because  each  student  can  be  rated  without  refer- 
ence to  the  work  of  other  members  of  the  class. 

4.  Variation  of  marks  of  students  in  the  same  class 

The  individual  differences  of  students,  discussed  in 
chapter  ii,  must  be  considered  in  discussing  the  variation 
of  marks  which  is  found  among  the  members  of  a  single 
class.  In  that  chapter  it  was  suggested  that  the  abilities 
of  students  cannot  be  expected  to  be  grouped  so  regularly 
as  in  the  Normal  Distribution  Curve  there  shown.  The 
same  chapter  suggests  a  method  of  determining  to  some 
extent  these  differences  by  a  graphic  presentation  of  their 
grades.  A  number  of  such  studies  have  been  made.  In 
most  cases  the  curve  of  ability  is  high  at  some  one  point 
and  the  majority  of  students  have  ability,  so  far  as  could 
be  determined,  closely  grouped  about  this  point,  with  only 
a  few  showing  it  to  a  very  much  greater  or  very  much  less 
degree.  In  a  few  cases  the  class  seemed  to  be  divided  into 
two  groups,  one  showing  very  high  ability  and  the  other 
rather  low  ability  in  the  quality  tested,  and  in  these  cases 
the  curve  of  distribution  showed  two  distinct  high  points, 
or  modes,  with  most  of  the  students  grouped  about  these 
points  and  only  a  few  in  the  area  of  medium  ability  between. 
It  seems  to  be  true,  however,  that  an  instructor  can  be 
fairly  certain  that  when  he  grades  a  number  of  students  on 
one  subject  there  will  be  a  middle  mark,  near  average 
ability  for  men  ready  to  take  the  course,  about  which  the 
majority  of  the  class  should  rank.  As  he  becomes  better 
acquainted  with  his  class  this  will  become  clearer,  so  that 
he  cannot  only  judge  the  ability  of  his  students  by  the 
graph  of  their  marks,  but  he  can  judge  also  of  the  correct- 
ness of  his  marks  by  the  same  means. 

The  following  graphs  of  supposititious  cases  show  such 
a  distribution  of  grades  and  are  given  for  the  reasons 


Teaching  in  the  Army 


indicated  in  the  discussion  following  them.  They  may 
be  taken  as  the  records  of  two  batteries  working  at  dis- 
mounted drill. 

a)  Discussion  of  curves. — (i)  "A"  Battery  shows  the 
median  grade  as  D  and  an  even  distribution  above  and 
below  this  mark. 

CURVE  OF  GRADES  or  "A"  BATTERY 


G-ca^es         E  B  C          D          A 

CURVE  OF  GRADES  OF  "B"  BATTERY 


A/o  ofMetv 


Graces 


D  C 

FlG.  4 


(2)  "B"  Battery  shows  a  median  grade  of  B,  with  com- 
paratively few  A's  and  a  gradual  decrease  to  D  and  E. 
This  curve  is  "skewed"  to  the  upper  end  of  the  scale. 

(3)  In  each  battery  there  is  a  grouping  such  as  that 
discussed  above.     The  first  curve  would  indicate  that  the 
work  is  fairly  hard  for  the  battery,  or  that  it  is  indifferent, 
or  that  the  instructor  is  probably  marking  relatively  with 
fairness  but  with  a  very  high  standard,  perhaps  because 
the  work  is  just  beginning  and  progress  will  show  a  steady 
move  of  the  mode  or  high  point  to  the  right. 

(4)  The  second  curve  would  indicate  that  the  work  is 
fairly  easy  for  the  battery,  or  that  the  instructor  is  inclined 


Marking,  Grading,  or  Rating  59 

to  mark  too  high,  or  that  the  organization  contains  an 
unusually  large  proportion  of  men  of  high  ability. 

b)  Uses  of  the  curves. — (i)  By  the  instructor.  A  graphic 
presentation  of  marks  presents  a  clear  basis  for  judging 
whether  his  marks  are  fair  and  for  comparison  with  the 
work  of  other  instructors  and  with  their  standards  of  rating. 

(2)  By    the    supervisor.    The    inspector    obtains    the 
same  aid  in  judging  that  is  given  to  the  instructor  by 
graphic  representation  of  marks.     In  case  of  the  first  curve, 
he  would  want  to  know  why  the  rating  is  so  low;  in  the 
second  case  he  would  want  to  know  both  why  it  is  so  high 
and  why  it  is  " skewed"  to  one  side. 

(3)  Some  educators  and  some  educational  institutions 
go  so  far  as  to  require  that  marks  given  by  instructors 
shall  conform  approximately  to  the  curve  shown  for  "A" 
Battery.     This  has  been  done,  for  example,  in  the  University 
of  Missouri.     The  basis  for  this  requirement  is  that  the 
courses   outlined   are   sufficiently   difficult   for   the   great 
majority  of  students,  and  that  it  is  fairly  unusual  to  find  a 
class  made  up  largely  of  men  of  great  brilliance  in  any 
particular    subject.      For    this   reason   instructors    whose 
marks  show  great  variation  from  the  normal  curve  are 
sometimes  required  to  explain  the  cause  for  such  variation. 

(4)  Until  the  subject  has  been  more  completely  deter- 
mined, the  ordinary  instructor  will  probably  be  satisfied 
with  a  fairly  even  distribution  of  grades  for  his  classes, 
but  at  the  same  time  he  should  be  able  to  explain  to  some 
extent  why  he  has  whatever  kind  of  curve  is  shown  for 
those  classes. 

5.  The  use  of  graphs  in  connection  with  marks  to  show 

progress  of  a  class 

As  suggested  above  and  in  preceding  paragraphs,  graphs 
of  ratings  can  be  used  to  indicate  the  progress  of  a  whole 


6o 


Teaching  in  the  Army 


class  as  well  as  to  study  the  individual  differences  of  its 
membersy  the  standard  of  rating  of  instructors  and  the 
relative  progress  of  different  classes.  The  following 
graph  was  used  to  study  the  progress  of  sixty-four  students 
in  a  class  in  field  artillery  materiel  in  the  R.O.T.C.  unit  at 
the  University  of  Chicago.  The  marks  are  based  on  the 
objective  scale  for  rating  knowledge  mentioned  in  section  3 , 
paragraph  a,  of  this  chapter,  which  required  an  intimate 
knowledge  of  500  parts  of  materiel  of  different  types. 

a)  Discussion  of  graph. — (i)  The  first  graph  shows  a 
wide  distribution  in  knowledge  of  materiel,  with  the  middle 

SERIES  OF  GRAPHS  OF  PROGRESS 


&  F  E  D  C  B  A 

Below  41  4J-50  51  -  W          fcl  -  70          7/  -  CO          *l  -90          <"  "  '°0 


Marking,  Grading,  or  Rating 


61 


F  £  D  C  B  A 

FIG.  5. — Graph  showing  progress  of  sixty-four  students  in 
field  artillery  materiel,  based  on  objective  scale:  a.  Grades 
obtained  in  first  test,  end  of  one-third  of  quarter;  b.  Grades  ob- 
tained in  second  test,  end  of  two-thirds  of  quarter;  c.  Grades 
obtained  in  final  test,  end  of  quarter. 

grade  D,  which  is  barely  passing  in  the  University,  with 
eight  conditioned  and  eleven  failures.  The  change  in  the 
median  is  noticeable,  as  is  the  final  grouping  toward  high 
marks.  Evidently  the  university  students  were  well 
able  to  learn  materiel  and  to  understand  its  uses. 

(2)  The  presentation  of  successive  graphs  to  the  class 
added  considerable  interest  to  the  tests  and  to  the  work. 


APPENDIXES 
APPENDIX  A.    STUDY  HELPS 

[From  suggestions  to  University  High  School  Students] 

Good  work  habits  are  quite  as  important  as  subject-matter. 
Your  aim  should  be  to  do  the  job  in  less  time  and  do  it  better. 

1.  Form  a  time  and  place  habit  by  studying  the  lesson  in  the 
same  subject  in  the  same  place,  at  the  same  time  each  day. 
Don't  study  immediately  after  a  heavy  meal. 

2.  Have  proper  study  conditions  and  equipment — a  quiet  room  not 
too  warm,  good  light  on  the  left,  a  straight  chair  and  table, 
the  necessary  books,  tools,  and  materials. 

3.  Study  independently.     Do  your  own  work  and  use  your  own 
judgment,  asking  for  help  only  wh/en  you  cannot  proceed 
without  it,  thus  developing  ability  to  think  for  yourself, 
and  the  will-power  and  self-reliance  essential  to  success. 

4.  Arrange  yaur  tasks  economically;  study  those  requiring  fresh 
attention  first;    those  in  which  concentration  is  easier,  like 
written  work,  later. 

5.  Sit  straight  and  go  at  the  work  vigorously,  with  confidence 
and   determination,    without   lounging   or   waste   of   time. 
When  actually  tired,  exercise  a  moment,  open  the  window, 
change  to  a  different  type  of  work. 

6.  Be  clear  on  the  assignment  and  the  form  in  which  it  is  to  be 
delivered.     In   class   take   notes   when   the   assignment   is 
made;  mark  things  to  be  carefully  learned.    When  in  doubt, 
consult  the  instructor. 

7.  In  committing  material  to  memory,  learn  it  as  a  whole;    go 
over  it  quickly  first,  then  more  carefully,  then  again  and 
again  until  you  have  it.     In  learning  forms,  rules,  definitions, 
etc.,  it  will  help  to  repeat  them  aloud. 

8.  In  studying  material  to  be  understood  and  digested  but  not 
memorized,  first  go  over  the  whole  quickly,  then  carefully, 
section  by  section;  if  possible,  then  review  the  whole  quickly. 

62 


Appendixes  63 

9.  Use  judgment  as  well  as  memory;  analyze  paragraphs,  select 
important  points,  note  how  minor  ones  are  related  to  them; 
use  your  pencil  freely  to  mark  important  points  so  that  you 
may  learn  systematically  and  review  easily. 

10.  Study  an  advance  lesson  promptly  and  review  before  going  to 
class,  recall  memorized  matter  by  repeating  it,  aloud  if  neces- 
sary;  think  through  a  series  of  points  to  see  that  you  have 
them  in  order  in  your  mind. 

11.  Use  all  the  material  aids  available — index,  notes,  etc. 


APPENDIX  B.    LIST  OF  REFERENCES 

1.  EDUCATIONAL  PSYCHOLOGY 

BAGLEY,  Educative  Process.    Macmillan. 

COLVIN,  The  Learning  Process.     Macmillan. 

DEWEY,  How  We  Think.    D.  C.  Heath  &  Co. 

JAMES,  Talks  to  Teachers  on  Psychology.     Henry  Holt  &  Co. 

THORNDIKE,  Educational  Psychology  (briefer  course).    Teachers 

College,  Columbia  University. 

— ,  Educational  Psychology.     3  vols. 

2.  PRINCIPLES    OF   EDUCATION 

BAGLEY,  Educational  Values.    Macmillan. 

BOLTON,  Principles  of  Education.    Macmillan. 

CUBBERLEY,    Changing    Conceptions    of   Education.     Houghton 

Mifflin  Co. 

HANUS,  Educational  Aims  and  Values.    Macmillan. 
THORNDIKE,  The  Principles  of  Teaching.    A.  G.  Seiier  Co. 

3.      METHODS   AND   MANAGEMENT 

BAGLEY,  Classroom  Management.    Macmillan. 
COLVIN,  Introduction  to  High  School  Teaching.     Macmillan. 
EARHART,  Types  of  Teaching.     Houghton  Mifflin  Co. 
McMuRRY,  Elements  of  General  Method.    Macmillan. 

,  How  to  Study  and  Teaching  How  to  Study.     Houghton 

Mifflin  Co. 
STRAYER  AND  NORSWORTHY,  How  to  Teach.    Macmillan. 


64  Teaching  in  the  Army 

STEVENS,   The  Question  as  a  Measure  of  Efficiency.    Teachers 

College,  Columbia  University. 
WHIFFLE,  How  to  Study  Effectively.     Public  School  Publishing  Co. 

4.    TEACHERS'  MARKS 

GRAY,  "Descriptive  List  of  Standard  Tests,"  Elementary  School 
Journal,  September,  1917. 

RUGG,  "Teachers'  Marks  and  Marking  Systems,"  Educational 
Administration  and  Supervision,  February,  1915. 

,  Statistical  Methods  Applied  to  Education.  Hough  ton 

Mifflin  Co. 

STARCH,  Educational  Measurements.    Macmillan. 

TERMAN,  The  Measurement  of  Intelligence.     Houghton  Mifflin  Co. 

WHIFFLE,  Manual  of  Physical  and  Mental  Tests.  2  vols.  War- 
wick and  York. 

KELLEY,  Teachers'  Marks:  Their  Variability  and  Standardization. 
Teachers  College,  Columbia  University. 


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